Sorting Out Personal Affairs
by The-Shadow002
Summary: The failed wedding is over and done, now Ranma has some choices he must make. How will the other fiancee's react to what Ranma will do? What will Ranma choose to do? Chapter 12 up. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Prologue Wreckage

Ok I thought I'd set up the story here before I go any further. For those of you who haven't read all 38 books of the Ranma ½ manga or seen all the episodes there was a wedding between Akane and Ranma that got trashed by the usual suspects, you know who they are. This story is set right at the end of the manga, if you've read those last few pages you'll notice what the characters say is the same as what they say in the manga. I'm planning on making this a good length fic with 20 chapters depending on how popular it is. I'll have the characters as they should be from having read the 38 manga books until I feel they have grown enough but that also means that there is a lot for me to work with as they are flexible characters seeing as Ranma and Akane being OOC is them not insulting each other and they do that in the manga anyway.

Now on to the story.

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"  
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Prologue – Wreckage

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The Tendo place was in disarray; pieces of wood littered the floor from Happosai's Happo Daikarin attack and people bursting in through the walls. Ranma lay on the ground knocked out while Shampoo and Ukyo fussed over him.

Kuno ran with outstretched arms to Akane "Oh my lovely Akane Tendo! Let us be wed here and…NOMPH," was what he said just as Akane kicked him in the face with a WHAM, sending him flying across Nerima. It was chaos incarnate.

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Later that eventful day, four people gathered in the lounge while Kasumi hanged the washing out on the line. The sun had started to set and they had spent the majority of the afternoon getting rid of the unwanted martial artists that had caused so much trouble, and trying to explain to the properly invited wedding guests what had happened.

Akane and Ranma sat on one side of the table while their fathers sat on the other side. Genma was lying on his back in his Panda form playing with a beach ball while Soun sat up straight, a look of utter disappointment on his face.

Soun sighed. "Clearly the wedding cannot proceed under these conditions. As is proper, lingering relations should be settled before a couple can be married. We can all see that you have plenty of those." Soun took a puff on a cigarette that had just appeared in his hands and continued, "So we have arranged for the wedding to be postponed until you can sort out your personal affairs."

Akane looked at Ranma. "Pay attention! All this mostly applies to YOU, Ranma."

Ranma turned to Akane "It was just as much your fault, AKANE."

Akane looked at Ranma and smiled, his heart suddenly became a loud drum in his ears. 'She's so cute when she smiles'.

"Well, that may or may not be true, but I'm sure we'll be able to fix everything up in no time and get things back on track."

Soun nodded his agreement. "Yes. Thanks to Nabiki inviting everyone to our house, she will have some things to discuss with me. Wont you, Nabiki?" Soun looked sternly at his middle daughter.

Nabiki seemed to cringe and looked at her father warily. "Uh, sure we will Daddy. Whenever you want," she replied before moving over to the other side of the room.

Ranma ignored the byplay between Soun and Nabiki decided to get some fresh air. The thought of his usual spot on the roof seemed like a good idea. "Well I'm going to go out for a bit," Ranma said to no one in particular as he stood up.

With that, the family "discussion" ended. Genma and Soun resumed their normal activities of playing Go. Nabiki and Akane went to their respective rooms and Kasumi went to finish off dinner preparations.

Kasumi put her head in from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour, everyone!" she announced.

Genma and Soun didn't even respond, absorbed as they were in their game of Go, and Akane seemed busy with the school book she was reading. Ranma took another look at Akane from his standing position, where she couldn't see him, and assume the worst and mallet him into the sky for it, before walking out the door into the backyard and jumping onto the roof.

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Later that evening once dinner was done and the members of the household had gone off to do their separate things, Ranma was back on the roof lying on his favorite part: the section above Akane's room. It had the best view of the Nerima skyline, not to mention a  
good field of view for him to spot any enemies or crazy fiancées.

Ranma's thoughts turned back to earlier in the day. Thanks to the perverted, panty-stealing, old fart Happosai the Nanniichuan water was gone; another chance to get rid of his damn curse had passed him by. He was left only the huge mess those idiots made, while trashing the Tendo house in their insane struggles and fights, to clean up.

Ranma sighed as he lay on his back and replayed a single scene over in his mind. It was just after Soun had explained why he was wearing a tuxedo and his father had told him that Akane had consented to the wedding. Akane consenting was…was unexpected to say the least. He'd bolted up the stairs and burst through Akane's door, yelling a question at her that had died before it had fully left his lips as his eyes drank in the sight of her. She was simply stunning in a western style wedding dress that clung and accented her curves. Flowers were delicately arranged in her hair and she was looking at him with a gentle smile.

"Hello Ranma." His befuddled brain tried to make sense of not only what his eyes were seeing, but the emotions that his vision was churning up.

Ranma finished the question he had originally intended with "Aguh...Gwufa? Ooga? Whoa," as his brain finally gave up making sense of anything.

Akane turned to him and asked, "Do you like my dress Ranma? I guess the Japanese style one would've been better after all."

All he had been able to say was "Ash…No. I mean they both look cute." Which was the truth, of course, but then his mouth continued. "Wow. You look really beautiful Akane."

She just blushed a light rosy red, making her look even more beautiful, and Ranma's legs turned week at the knee.

"You really think so?" she had asked. "I'm so glad."

Then they sat down and talked. Ranma finally managed to get his brain working and asked her why she had agreed to go through with the wedding. What she said wasn't what he was expecting; she had asked him if he loved her. He was dumbfounded. She had said she was sure she heard him say that he loved her when he had rescued her at Jusendo. He, of course, had denied it then and was stuttering a weak denial now. It wasn't long after that the chaos arrived on their doorstep. In the end, Ranma and Akane still weren't married, despite all they had gone through at Phoenix Mountain and the journey back.

Ranma sighed to himself. He needed to take his mind off things; he'd go down to the dojo and practice. With all that had happened today it wouldn't take long to get tired. Ranma knew he needed to firmly decide what to do about his feelings, his unspoken love for Akane, and what he was going to do to follow Tendo-san's orders to sort out his personal affairs.

Ranma got up, deftly jumped off the roof to the ground and started to walk slowly towards the dojo, not particularly paying attention to anything and so deep in thought that he didn't notice the figure watching him from the lounge room.

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Well let me know what you think people I'm at your mercy please R&R, C&C much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1 Wondering

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Chapter 1 - Wondering  
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Once their fathers were done with them, Akane had returned to reading the book she had found at the school's library. She was completely absorbed in the fantasy story; she didn't even realize Ranma had left until it was almost dinner time.

Kasumi walked into the lounge and placed the bowls of food on the table. "Akane, would you mind moving so I can set up dinner?" Kasumi smiled while she worked and hummed a song under her breath.

"Sure thing, sis," Akane got up and went upstairs to her room. Placing her book on her bed she went back downstairs and joined her extended family for dinner. Everyone sat and ate their food, with Ranma trying to stop his father from stealing his food, as usual.

Genma was managing to grab food from Ranma more successfully than before, but Ranma didn't seem to be paying as much attention or energy into the food battle as he normally would. Akane frowned at him, concerned, but decided to concentrate on her own food. He's probably just thinking about something stupid and immature.

Akane looked around. Her dad and Ranma's were talking about either Go or Shoji or both. Kasumi was happily listening to everyone while Nabiki sat at the table, chopsticks in one hand, calculator in the other while her notepad and pen lay next to her bowl.

Ranma finished his bowl before anyone else, as always, and begged a second helping from Kasumi. Akane could never understand how boys could eat so much food. Where did it all go? Akane concentrated on her food and finished by the time Ranma had devoured his second serving and declared "I'm finished, that was great Kasumi."

"I'm done, too," echoed Akane. She went upstairs to her room and pulled out the bits of unfinished homework from her bag, sat down and tried to finish off what she hadn't done because of all the chaos today.

She worked steadily, attempting all of it and succeeding in finishing most. Involuntarily she glanced over at the chair in the corner of her room where Ranma would sit and get help from her with his homework. Whenever it was that he actually attempted to do it.

He didn't appear to be anywhere around, which made sense, she supposed, as he had said he was going out. But where would he be going? Surely not to Ukyo's, or the Cat Café. Not after what happened today. But then he probably didn't even care.

Today. Today was the day they were meant to have been married, the joining of the schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts would have been completed. No doubt their fathers would have been crying with joy the entire time and making idiots of themselves. But it hadn't happened; they still weren't married.

Why was that? Who was to blame? Akane placed the blame on quite a few people. Nabiki being near the top of the list. She might love her sister, but she was always trying to make money out of everything. Exploiting her little sister's wedding day for profit was almost too much.

And then there was Ranma. He had come running up the stairs in a huff, after waking up to find himself in a tux, to ask her something. His momentum had left him and he had just stood in the doorway with his mouth open, words stopped and his eyes staring. She had to admit she had liked the effect she had had on Ranma, if that was in fact the reason why he was staring.

She blushed remembering what he had said. He had stood there and told her she was beautiful. Not cute or pretty, but beautiful. She had no idea why he had said that and she was just too unsure to ask.

By the time she was finished Ranma was already talking and running while holding onto her hand dragging her along. Then everything had gotten very confusing, very chaotic and, for some, very painful.

Maybe he didn't want to marry her out of some feelings for her; maybe it was only because of the Nanniichuan. At least he had held her hand as they ran.

Her father was right, Ranma really needed to sort out his relationships. Why didn't he just tell those other self proclaimed or supposed fiancées to beat it.

Not that she would even want to marry him now. Not that pervert, she thought automatically. But the retort in her mind felt hollow and off kilter, somehow.

She sighed loudly in frustration. Thanks to Ranma she couldn't concentrate on her homework. So, where was he anyway? Knowing him he had probably had gone to Ukyo's to get a free okonomiyaki. She wasn't sure though. It was too hard to tell what effect today's events had made.

She tried to put Ranma out of her mind. For a while she was successful, but there was a niggling feeling at the back of her mind that wouldn't let her banish thoughts of him completely. What if he had gone? What if he had decided to stay at Ukyo's or Shampoo's because he took today's happenings as a major setback?

This is hopeless. She just kept getting distracted by stray thoughts she couldn't get rid of. Sighing she packed up her books and put them away. A drink might be a good idea. I'm a bit thirsty. She thought to herself as she walked out of her room and down the stairs. Going into the kitchen she poured herself a glass of water and stood there for a moment sipping.

She was just about to go look for Ranma and get some answers, or smack them out of him, when she saw him land on the lawn near the walkway to the dojo. She let out a small, almost soundless, sigh of relief.

She knew where he was and it wasn't at one of the rival fiancées. She mentally scolded herself; what did it matter where he was? She watched him walk over to the dojo and enter. He seemed fine to her, not as distracted as he was at dinner.

Her curiosity got the better of her. She put her empty glass on the sink and walked outside onto the grass. It felt cool and crisp beneath her bare feet and she could smell its fresh scent on the air as she walked towards one of the windows set in the side of the dojo.

From there she would be able to see Ranma and decide whether to go in or not. It was her family dojo, she didn't need to be polite about entering, but she didn't want to interrupt Ranma when he was training.

She stood in front of the window making sure as little light as possible fell onto her. Ranma was standing in the middle of the floor, breathing deeply. Suddenly he started a routine of katas, flowing silently from one to the next.

Standing there she almost became entranced as Ranma moved surely through the exercises. He kept his slow pace for a few minutes before speeding up. His body moved faster and faster, almost reaching his Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken speed.

He kept it up for a moment before he slowed down his katas and stopped completely. As she watched, he smiled a contented, feeling-good-about-yourself type smile. Akane broke her eyes away from Ranma as he started punching, kicking and blocking his way back and forth in the dojo.

She stood there thinking for a moment and then made a decision. She went up to the door of the dojo, slid it open and entered, closing the door behind her. Ranma finished off a roundhouse kick that he had started while in the air before lightly landing on the floor of the dojo.

Turning towards the doors he caught sight of her. His eyes had widened slightly. Turning back towards the front of the dojo he greeted her.

"Hey 'Kane. What's up?"

She watched him finish a block involving a counter before she answered. "I just wanted to come in here and do some training. Something light because I'm feeling a bit tired from getting up so early this morning."

He seemed unsure, but answered her. "Uh…ok then, but you can't mallet me for making too much noise 'k? 'Cos you're the one who came in here, deal?" He walked over to her and held out his hand to her warily.

For a moment she was irritated at his attitude, but it passes and she reached out to take his hand "Done."


	3. Chapter 2 Whispers

Thanks a lot you guys for all of your reviews. They keep me working hard

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Chapter 2 – Whispers

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Ranma's mind ran over what Akane had just said. "Uh…ok then, but you can't mallet me for making too much noise 'k? 'Cos you're the one who came in here, deal?" He had walked over to her while he was talking and he held out his hand to seal their verbal contract. He was a bit wary, though; worried that she'd materialize her mallet out of no where and smash him into the sky.

"Deal," she said and reached out her hand to his. Their hands touched, and Ranma felt a pleasant tingle up his arm and an immediate sense of warmth as Akane's hand closed around his.

Her hand, like any martial artist, was slightly calloused, but where there were no calluses her skin was smooth and soft. He tried to dismiss his thoughts as they shook once and then let go.

He turned around and walked back to the center of the floor and then walked forward a few meters to give Akane some room to train. Taking up a basic stance he began again. Behind him he could hear Akane walk onto the floor and stop a reasonable distance behind him.

Ranma blocked out the external noises and concentrated, he moved through the moves that his lazy Pop had taught him, attempting to hone his skills further and to block out any thought at all. Time seemed to pass and he paused to rest, breathing a little harder than usual from his constant exertion. Looking at the clock on the dojo's wall he realized it was a little after eleven o'clock.

He turned to where he had sensed Akane earlier to say he was done, and found her leaning against the wall with her legs stretched out in front of her and her chin touching her chest. She had fallen asleep on the floor of the dojo. One of her training weights lay on the floor in her almost open hand.

Her hair framed her face and as he moved closer Ranma could see a small smile teasing the corner of her mouth. Ranma stood on the spot, not moving a single muscle. His eyes were wide with surprise, but were thoughtful at the same time.

He stood there for a while, thinking. Should he leave her here, or take her with him? And most importantly, what would he do if she woke up while he carried her inside? Given Akane's reflex actions when she was abruptly woken, he would be taking a late night trip via air Akane.

He couldn't leave her there, though. He had lain on the floor of the dojo unconscious before and he knew how uncomfortable it was. He wasn't too surprised she fell asleep. Akane was usually up by six in the morning for her jog and shower before school, while he tried to squeeze in as much sleep as possible.

Shrugging mentally, he squared his shoulders against what would come if she woke up. He walked over to her and carefully removed the dumbbell from her hand. Carefully, very carefully, so she wouldn't wake up and whack him into oblivion with no chance to explain what he was doing, he slid his right arm behind her back.

When he was sure he hadn't woken Akane up, he slid his left arm underneath her knees. At a snail's pace he stood up carrying Akane in his arms, as he got up she unconsciously shifted, putting her arms around his neck. Ranma froze, staying utterly still and using all of his martial arts training to preciously control the movement of every muscle.

Suddenly, Akane started mumbling and he strained his ears to hear what she said. Most of what he heard was gibberish, but for a moment there he thought he heard her whisper a name; it almost sounded like his name in fact, but that of course was crazy.

She sighed and seemed to settle down. Cautiously, he walked over to the door. Using his left hand he flicked off the light switch and opened the door. Closing it behind him he walked down the covered walkway between the house and dojo.

Half way across he came to a starting revelation; there was no way in hell he could let anyone see him doing this. Kasumi would be no problem; she would already be in bed, as would his Pop and Akane's dad. But Nabiki, she would still be up. If she saw him he would be bankrupt for the rest of his life to keep this scene a secret, and he would have to let her take as many photos as she wanted.

'I'm in deep trouble if she catches me,' he thought, 'And I'm in deep trouble if Akane wakes up. Shit!' He was trapped in a no-win situation, unless he could get Akane to her bed with no one the wiser - including Akane. Due to multiple past experiences of sneaking around the Tendo household usually to snatch P-chan away from Akane's bed), he had managed to learn where nearly all of the rotten and noisy steps and boards were.

Walking inside he went through the dining room to the stairs. He carefully made his way up the stairs and stopped at the beginning of the hallway. Now comes the tricky part. Hopefully his luck would hold through.

He dodged his way down to Akane's room, missing the boards that would give him away, as well as possibly wake up Akane. He smiled as he reached the duck-shaped sigh outside Akane's door. Luck was on his side, for once. Her door merely rested against the frame and wasn't closed. All he had to do was nudge it open with his foot. Entering the room he toed the door behind him until it was almost shut.

Practically tiptoeing over to Akane's bed, he flicked back the comforter with his foot and carefully slid Akane in underneath the covers. Pulling the covers up to her neck, he warily stepped back. He knew from Ryoga that Akane was fairly active in her sleep and had a tendency to lash out while she dreamt.

Akane automatically settled into her bed and he almost heard her whisper a name again. It sounded like the same name she had mentioned before, but he couldn't make it out. She sighed in her sleep, and he decided that now would be a good time to leave before he screwed things up and got malleted.

In fact he was wondering how he had managed to escape his normal screwed up luck as he exited her room, the door making a quiet click as it closed. Maybe he had just gotten lucky for once.

He knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. Being caught outside Akane's room would be half as bad as being caught in her room, with Akane being royally pissed off, Nabiki blackmailing him and both of their fathers crying and trying to plan another wedding. After the chaos of today, it was the last thing he wanted.

He gathered his energy and carefully dodged down to the guest bedroom, which were his and Genma's room.

'Well, at least he'll be passed out from too much sake', he reflected as he slid the door to their room open. The amount of sake was also good for tomorrow, as there was a chance his Pop would be hung-over and asleep long after he woke up for school.

Ranma carefully walked over to his futon, keeping one eye on the recombinant form of his father, who was snoring blissfully away in alcohol induced unconsciousness.

He pushed his bed further from his father as a precaution. He didn't really feel like being squashed by his father's bulk when he rolled around in his sleep. Whenever his Pop got drunk, and even sometimes when he slept normally, his Pop tended to roll around more than usual. _Must be 'cos of all the time he spends as a fat panda_ he thought.

Lying down on his bed and arranging everything to his satisfaction, Ranma made himself comfortable. He lay there thinking for a few moments and realized the misadventures school would bring after the rumors of the failed wedding circulated. He sighed, pushing the thought out of his mind. He would ignore as much chaos as he could and almost instantly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 3 Why

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Thanks everyone for your reviews they are a great inspiration to keep going and to keep those chapters coming out.

Thanks again everyone for your reviews and your patience

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Chapter 3 - Why

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The earth turned and the night sky above Nerima faded from a blue-black darkness littered with stars to the false pale light of daybreak before warming to a bright dawn.

The sun's rays stretched and reached out to light the footpaths and roads, and touched the rooftops and windows of the town's many buildings. Eventually it reached the window of Akane Tendo and crept along the floor of her room, onto her bed and over her face.

As the sunlight hit her eyelids they fluttered and opened. Akane groaned in denial; she had plenty of time to sleep in her warm bed, she didn't have to get up yet, more warm sleep.

Then her alarm went off. Sighing in resignation, Akane pressed the off button and sat up, pushing back the covers of her bed and bracing herself for the colder air as she moved her feet and legs out of the covers and onto the floor.

She shivered. It was even colder then she had thought. Looking down she realized why. She was still wearing her gi from yesterday and she was barefoot.

Her brow creased in thought. That wasn't right, she always wore her pajamas to bed. Then again, she couldn't remember when she had gone to bed. The last thing she could remember was taking a small breather against the dojo wall.

While going through her usual morning routine of brushing her short hair into shape, she continued to run the previous evening through her mind. The last thing she could clearly remember was the weight of her eyelids as her eyesight had started to get fuzzy.

So, she had fallen asleep in the dojo. Now that she had that established, how had she gotten from there to her bed? She tried to pierce the sleepy fog that covered her memories of last night.

Her hair done, she started to get dressed for her morning jog, still thinking furiously. If she had fallen asleep in the dojo, then the only person that could have brought her to her room was Ranma. Would he really have done that?

Sure, Ranma had a fairly good heart and carrying her all the way from the dojo wouldn't be physically demanding on him, either. But why hadn't he just shaken her awake? Instead, he had taken the trouble to tuck her properly in bed. It seemed an uncharacteristically tender action for the Ranma she knew.

'Maybe it's because he likes you' a diminutive voice at the back of her mind suggested. She stubbornly pushed the voice down, determined to ignore it. 'No, that couldn't be it,' but the thought still lingered in the back of her mind.

Dressed and ready, she left her room. Walking down the hallway she could hear the familiar sounds of Kasumi making breakfast and faint sound of her sister humming a tune. That was odd. Kasumi usually didn't have anyone's breakfast ready this early. Akane was always the first one up, but she didn't eat breakfast until she returned from her run.

As she came down the stairs, Akane was surprised to discover who Kasumi was making breakfast for at this hour. Ranma was awake and sitting at the table in his usual boxers and singlet that he wore as pajamas.

Ranma looked up as she came down the stairs and walked over to the table. Akane eyed him carefully. Ranma – the infamous over-sleeper was already awake? He didn't even seem tired, so he must have slept well.

"Morning, Ranma. How come you're up so early?" she inquired, hoping to have her silent question answered. He smiled a little for some reason as he answered her.

"Morning 'Kane, I went to bed sooner then I usually do. Guess that's why I was able to wake up earlier. Figured I'd get up and eat instead of waiting to be whacked into the koi pond."

Akane eyed him doubtfully. "You sure about that? Normally nothing can wake you in the morning." She looked at him waiting for an answer, but he just shrugged.

"Oh, good morning, Akane. Did you sleep well?" Kasumi asked as she placed breakfast in front of Ranma, who with a stated a quick "Itadakimasu," before making his breakfast disappear.

"I slept well," Akane replied. She thought she saw Ranma blush a tiny bit but she couldn't be sure.

Kasumi smiled "That's good," she said and walked back into the kitchen.

'Oh well', Akane mentally shrugged. She could probably find out what had happened some time during the day, if she really wanted to. Although she doubted she would get a straight answer from Ranma, no matter how she asked.

Walking over to the front door Akane put on her runners and stepped outside into the bright morning sunlight. A light breeze flowed through her hair and caressed her face as she jogged along her morning route. The green of the trees, grass and other plants mingled with the smell of flowers blooming, the two blending together to give the scent of spring.

Akane was elated. Her legs moved her, her body seeming to flow along the footpath in a route that both her mind and body knew from years of following it. She loved her morning jogs. They always made her feel in control and unstoppable, and her mind would clear and focus as the soles of her shoes slapped a steady rhythm against the pavement.

Eventually her run came to an end. She sighed with regret, having to stop and lose that rush. She entered her home, took her shoes off and went to get ready for her bath.

Akane sank into the warm bath water and felt her muscles relax. Her mind, however, was busy thinking. If Ranma had been the one to put her to bed, she still didn't know why he had done it.

'Because he cares about you', the voice repeated, stirring an emotion in her that was pleasing and terrifying at once.

She pushed it down, frowning. Yesterday, Ranma had denied ever saying he liked her at Jusenkyo. Well, not quite denied it. He didn't outright protest and insult Akane, like he usually did, when asked about his feelings towards her. The regular comments of "an un-cute, unfeminine tomboy!" were unheard. Instead, he had merely denied the memory of ever saying that out loud.

In fact, he had even complemented her. The memory of Ranma staring at Akane in awe and say she was beautiful made her checks grow warm as she blushed. Akane suddenly realized what she was doing and frowned.

There was no reason for her to be so happy just because Ranma said she was beautiful. One lone compliment among a slew of insults did not mean he liked her, let alone love her.

The thought caught her off guard. 'Love? Where did that come from?'

She quickly shifted her thoughts to more comfortable and familiar grounds: Ranma was an insensitive jerk, right? She cared about him, but that didn't mean she...she… well, she never asked to be engaged to him and it didn't matter to her what he said about how her looks! She nodded to herself, happy to resolve her internal conflict. She was going to have a bad enough day with school as it was.

'Oh crap, school!' That was going to take some fast talking.

She quickly finished up in the bathroom and got ready for school. Leaving her room she noticed Ranma sitting on the back porch with his back to the house.

His hair was shiny, clearly still wet from a bath he took while she was out. He had changed into his usual school 'uniform': one of his Chinese style sleeveless shirts, a red one today, and black pants.

She needed to talk to him, now while she ate instead of on the way. They needed the time to possibly plan or co-ordinate their stories. "Ranma," she said, trying to get his attention. He turned his head around to face her.

"Ranma, you remember that Nabiki invited all those kids from school, as well as others?" he nodded silently and she continued, "Well, I was wondering if you had any ideas about what we should do once we got to school. You know how they are. They'll be asking questions and pestering us and I, uh, wanted to know, well, what are we going to explain to them?"

She silently watched him think over what she had said. Kasumi came in with her breakfast. "Thanks sis." Kasumi smiled in reply and went back to the kitchen.

After a minute or so during which Akane had been eating her breakfast, Ranma looked at her and started to talk.

"Well, how about we just tell them the truth?" he suggested.

"The truth?" she replied skeptically while she continued to eat.

"Eh, not the whole truth, but almost the same thing. It can just have parts missing. It will actually be the truth so the ones who were there can't deny it and Nabiki can't blackmail either of us."

She finished off her breakfast and looked at him. "Go on." His eyes stayed thoughtful as he continued. "How 'bout we say the wedding was cancelled because of the unwanted guests? After all the damage, it, uh needs to be repaired first before there can be any wedding. If they ask we can just tell them who did it. Not like that's much of a surprise"

Akane turned the idea over in her mind. It was simple, and as Ranma had said, it was the truth with some half truth mixed in to make it believable. Why didn't I think of that?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ranma "Akane? What do you reckon?" he asked a little nervous. "It sounds good to me," she answered, another idea occurring to her. "Do you want to leave now? Seeing as how we're both ready and you can make sure you avoid your father. I'm finished." She put her bowl down on the table.

Ranma glanced at the clock on the wall before answering "Why not? We won't have to rush for a change either." She watched him get up and walk over to the table pulling out his school bag from underneath. "I'll wait for you," he told her sauntering over to the front door.

She nodded and quickly went upstairs to fetch her own school bag. Closing her bedroom door behind her she went back downstairs to put on her shoes. Ranma already had his on and was leaning against the wall, both of their obento in hand.

'He must have gotten them while I was upstairs'. She smiled. "Thanks for remembering lunch."

Ranma gave his characteristic, teasing, half-smile. "Well, I can't always depend on you to remember them, can I?"

Akane rolled her eyes while shaking her head at him. "And who is it that gets them every other morning?"

Ranma grinned at her. "Why, Kasumi of course. She just gives them to you."

She gave him a look of mock insult. "You baka," she teased. The reply she got was a "Beeeeeed," as he stuck out his tongue at her, equally playful.

"Oh, come on. Let's go."

"Sure," Ranma moved off the wall and turned towards the kitchen. "Later Kasumi!"

Akane in turn called out. "See you later, sis."

"You two have fun at school today," Kasumi answered from the kitchen. Ranma rolled his eyes at both the ironic statement and Kasumi's innocence about what was likely to happen. Akane grinned a little in agreement. Today was not likely to be fun.

Crossing the street, Ranma took his usual place on the wire fence, slightly in front of Akane, as they walked along the canal. Ranma walked with ease, balanced as perfectly as a cat, with his hands in his pockets as he walked along.

Akane once again felt a twinge of envy at the way he casually managed to do something that she had yet to master. She was fairly good at gymnastics, (as long as they didn't involve ribbon), and could manage a normal balance beam, but the thin fence rail was beyond her skill level. She was sure she wouldn't want to go through the kind of brutal and insane training Genma had forced on Ranma, but she still wanted to improve. 'I wonder if he would show me how', she thought, watching him surreptitiously.

She doubted it. Knowing him he would say something stupid like there was no point with him around to save her, or that he was too busy. He would probably poke fun at her as well. The last thing she needed was Ranma's ego to inflate even more by asking him to show her something in martial arts.

They walked together in a companionable silence that she was loath to break. Not talking also meant that they weren't insulting each other or fighting.

So the status quo remained. Akane's eyes moved down to the canal water, watching the sparkling sun on the surface as the wind brushed it and formed aesthetic ripples.

Ranma turned to look behind him, an expression of bewilderment on his face. "I should have heard that blasted bell by now. What's Shampoo up to?"

Akane felt a flash of anger. "Why should you care where she is or not? Especially after what happened yesterday!" She tried to clamp down on her temper so she didn't mallet him for being so insensitive.

"That's the whole point. I don't want her sneaking up on me if I'm not expecting it." He replied nervously. Whether the nervousness was due to the possible plotting of a purple haired Amazon or because he could sense her anger, Akane didn't know, but she doubted it was her own feelings. If Ranma had any sense of how she felt or would react to what he said, half of their arguments never would have happened.

As much as she may have wanted to sympathize with Ranma, she couldn't anymore. If he didn't want his other fiancées chasing him around and making his life complicated, then he had had more than enough time to suck it up and tell them to beat it ages ago.

Ranma continued talking. "But so far, it's been a good morning."

"Oh and why is that?" she asked.

Ranma jumped down form the fence and started walking beside her. She glanced at him inquiringly.

He just shrugged and kept going before he answered, ticking off each point on his hand as he made it. "Well, I managed to avoid the ladle lady so I didn't have to worry about changing me into a girl, I avoided falling into the canal and being turned into a girl, and most importantly we are almost at school and I managed to avoid Shampoo," he finished.

Akane nodded in agreement. All of those were good things, especially the one about avoiding Shampoo.

They passed through the gates and entered the grounds of Furikan High School. The school yard was almost deserted. Looking at the school clock she noticed that they had miraculously arrived more then half and hour early. For once, neither one of them would have bucket duty.

Glancing at Ranma, she saw him scan the grounds carefully. He was doing more than just looking for his friends –- experience had taught him to always be on alert for the usual or unusual enemies declaring a challenge.

She turned to Ranma. "Do you want to wait in the classroom for everyone else? Or we can wait up on the roof." She was fairly sure he would agree with the roof. He had once told her that the roof was one of the best places in the school to go to.

"I like the roof idea, but what you hanging around me for?" he asked, surprise laden in his voice. Ranma smirked. "Do you want me to protect you until your friends get here?"

"Why would I want help from a pervert like you? You know very well I can take care of myself just fine," she rejoined to his taunt.

Smiling now instead of smirking he answered her, "What, an uncoordinated tomboy like you? No I'll just have to take care of anything that comes along." He continued blissfully unaware of the fire in Akane's eyes. "I would even wonder about your chances in a match against Shampoo."

That did it. Too late, Ranma realized his foot had become lodged in his mouth. "No, wait! Akane, I was joking!"

"You JERK!" and with that yell, and a well placed punch, Ranma was launched up into the sky above.

She stood there for a bit waiting for him to come down, and watched him land on the roof of the school with a sound that made her wince.

With most of her temper burned out she stomped towards the school building. She would head up to the roof and make sure she didn't hit him too hard. The irony of the situation hit her. 'How about that? He ended up there after all' Akane laughed and disappeared inside.


	5. Chapter 4 Walking

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 4 – Walking

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Outside the town of Nerima lay a forest, one quite large that had seen many a traveler become lost while hiking. Green leaves and new growth was abundant throughout the forest as the morning spring sunshine flowed along the trees.

The figure standing in a clearing in the forest was far from lost, though. He yawned and stretched after a night's sleep on the hard ground of the forest. The young man was dressed darkly with black denium pants, a light-weight jacket the color of midnight and a dust-grey t-shirt.

His medium length raven hair and grey eyes matched his dark attire. Thankfully, his skin was light tan from time spent outdoors, avoiding the heavy contrast between skin tone and black clothing that would have made him look like a corpse. His black hair lay flat and limp on his head with the small exception of a few cowlicks his slumber had produced.

Fully stretched and limper, the person in question began an artful demonstration of some simple katas for a few minutes. Once finished, he found himself facing a large tree. His hands blurred and the _thock_ of metal hitting wood reverberated in the clearing each time a hand moved.

The finishing result: a cross formed on the tree trunk from throwing knives, the metal blades buried deep in the wood up to the crossbar. In a blur of motion, he pulled the knives out of the tree trunk. Each disappeared from his hands into various places in his coat.

Walking away from the tree the young man retreived his back pack, which had lain obscured behind a bush, and headed towards the highway that ran towards Nerima.

**-------------------------------------------------**

Ranma lay in a shallow crater on the roof of Furikan High School. The crater, predictably, was in the shape of Ranma's body as he impacted. Once again, Ranma tried to tell himself to avoid getting Akane that angry. He lost count of how many times he had done that.

Lying dazed and semiconscious he did nothing until he felt something nudging his side. "Hey, Ranma," He heard a voice say above his prone form. The nudging was from the gentle probings with a foot, bringing him back to the real world.

His eyes focused and gave him the sight of Akane, her face and hair outlined by the blue sky. Snapping out of a different kind of daze he watched her warily. "Are you gonna hit me again?"

She glared back down at him. "Are you going to give me reason too?" her fist clenched threateningly in front of her.

"No, no! No need to do anything," he replied quickly to avoid that fist. Getting up from the crater he brushed bits of concrete and dust from his hair and clothes.

She turned away from him and walked over to the chain link fence, he stood there for a moment watching the light breeze toy with her hair and her dress flow slightly. Her eyes were closed and her face bore a small, sweet smile.

He walked over to the fence and stood beside her, looking out over the school grounds, the town and at her from the corner of his eye. She opened her eyes and he snapped both of his eyes to the view in front of him, '_That was close'_.

They stood there together in silence, watching the town of Nerima and Furikan High come alive. Ranma noticed a crowd of students gathering at the gates to the school, but oddly most of the students were just standing outisde the gates and not entering the grounds.

"What are they doing down there?" he thought out loud.

Akane tiltered her head at him "Who?"

He pointed towards the gates and her eyes followed his arm. Continuing on his initial thought he asked, "You don't think they might be waiting for _us, _do you?"

Laughing she turned to give her reply. "You're probably right, you know. They're likely waiting for us to put on a show or ask us what's going on now." An almost Nabiki-like grin crossed her face. "I just had an idea. How about we disappoint them and just go to class from here?"

Ranma laughed. The idea certainly had appeal. Personally, he didn't care about what the other students at the gate did, (he could always handle anyone in a fight), but this way he wouldn't have to worry about being late and holding buckets of water in the corridor. _Cold _water, at that.

"That actually sounds like a good idea. When do you want to go to class?" He turned and put his back against the fence.

"How about now?" she asked him. He shrugged and picked up his school bag from beside the imprint of his hand.

"Why not, I'll be able to get in without that vampire feeding off me," he shuddered, thinking of their energy-sucking teacher.

Akane shook her head in good humor at him. "Well, that's your own fault for being late so often. The 'great' Ranma may be able to tackle any one in a martial arts fight, but you're hopeless to arrive on time."

Ranma's eyebrows rose at the implied challenge. "Oh yeah? You just see, I won't be late at all this week," he rejoined.

"Ha!" Akane scoffed. "You can't do it, not for a whole week."

Ranma smirked. "You wanna _bet_ on it?"

She cocked her head and grinned. "Sure, what's the bet?"

Ranma thought fast, trying to come up with an easy, but still worthwhile prize. "The loser has to treat the winner to parfaits. If you're late - aren't in the classroom when the bell goes – then you cant make the other person late. If they come late it's because of their own actions and if no one is late in the first week we keep going until someone's late. How's that sound?"

He watched her think it over. "Okay, that sounds good to me." She was smiling oddly "But I have one more condition," Ranma nodded to her to continue, "If I win and you have to treat me, then you have to do it as a guy."

_'As a guy, in an ice cream parlor? Aw damn.' _He didn't really see any away out of that condition. Besides, a Saotome doesn't lose.

"Agreed." She nodded happily and walked past him to the school stairs. He looked out over the tree tops and then turned back and followed Akane down the stairs into the school.

**---------------------------------------**

Akane and Ranma entered the classroom together and, as expected, found the room to be empty and unused. The chairs were still stacked up from the weekend. Ranma went over to the window near his usual seat and looked out. From what he could see, people were still waiting at the gates, although there was now a stream of students coming into the school, making constant backwards glances as they went.

Taking his chair off the top of the desk, Ranma set it down and lounged in it while Akane sat down in her own chair. Ranma leaned back in his seat and stared up at the roof, tracing the small cracks with his eyes that ran from the corners of the square of plaster.

Lazing in his chair he ran over in his mind the deal he had just made. Personally, he didn't care if he was late to school, other than the consequence of holding buckets in the hallway. School wasn't a priority in his life, or event that useful when he was going to be the greatest martial artist in the world. Unlike fellow classmates that crammed for college entrance exams and scholarships, Ranma only had to pass high school.

This contest changed things. It was a challenge, and he loved a good challenge whether it was rhythmic gymnastic martial arts or competing to make his food disappear unseen with marital arts.

Just because this challenge didn't involve martial arts didn't mean he would lose. Oh no, he was going to win this. He hadn't had a parfait in ages, (thanks to the money he kept losing to Nabiki). His pride was at stake in two ways: both the embarrassment of losing and having to sit and watch a gloating Akane eat a parfait in front of him. That would just be torture!

Ranma was distracted from his thoughts by the school bell as it announced the beginning of yet another school day at Furikan High. Students started leaving the gate below slowly and then in a rush to avoid being made to stand in the hall for being late.

The class began to fill up with their fellow classmates, who threw Ranma and Akane odd looks as they walked in before gathering in groups to whisper together. Students kept stealing not-so-subtle glances over their shoulders at the two fiancés in the room.

Ranma, for his part, just took it all in stride and continued to lean back in his chair until he felt two people behind him. "Uh, morning guys, what's happening?"

"Well that's what we would like to know, Ranma." Daisuke spoke, a sly grin at the corner of his mouth. "We wanted to know what happened the other day -- " "--and night -- " Hiroshi chimed in, "--with the wedding." Ranma's two friends took seats in front and behind him to hear what he had to say.

"Weren't you guys there? Or did the disaster happen before you got there?" Ranma asked them both trying to buy some time until the teacher walked in.

"No, both me and Daisuke were on our way while the action went down," Hiroshi replied while keeping a look out for their psycho teacher.

Ranma shrugged, "Short version: the wedding got postponed because of some gate crashers who trashed the place. I'm sure I don't need to bother you with names or anything, do I?"

They both rolled their eyes but Daisuke answered "Well of course not, it would have been those 3 other crazy fiancées that you have."

"I'll bet Ryoga and Kuno and maybe some enemy of yours, too." Hiroshi contributed, "So on the whole it was probably a good thing we never arrived. With that gang I can imagine a lot of collateral damage."

Ranma nodded in agreement "Yeah, there was a lot of cleaning up to do." Turning his head around he noticed that Akane was surrounded by more than her usual friends. Every now and again one of the girls would glance over at him and then turn back to listen to whatever it was that Akane was saying.

Daisuke and Hiroshi stood up and moved to their seats with a wave as their teacher walked in the door and up to the front of the class. "Alright, alright quite down you lot," she told them while holding out one of her dreaded yen coins. The class quieted instantly, not wanting to suffer from one of her ki drains.

As the teacher began talking about English and the other stuff he was supposed to learn and cared even less about, Ranma let his mind drift as he mulled over several things that had been running through his mind since the night on the roof and the whole weekend.

Things had finally come to a head on the weekend. He had been on edge a lot since coming back from Jusenkyo, and while he might have admitted some things, well mainly one thing, that didn't mean he was ready to do anything about that just yet.

He just never wanted to be put in that situation of despair and loss that he had felt before Akane had come back to life in his arms. He knew he didn't want anything to ever harm her, and one of the things Jusenkyo made him realize, was that he couldn't imagine a life without her. That didn't mean he was ready to get married, though! Still, things had changed – for both of them.

He somehow had to make the others realize that things just wouldn't work as they were. The problem was doing it in such a way that those involved wouldn't go on another spree of destruction.

He remembered the destruction in the dojo and cringed. Although it might look like he never cared about such things as monetary costs, thanks to Nabiki always squeezing money out of him, he was acutely aware of the value of things, especially when it came to restoring the Tendo's place after some crazy fool had come in looking for him or Akane.

Even worse, was when he thought about the harm that could have been caused to Akane during the wedding fiasco. Akane was a decent fighter, (if he allowed himself to admit it), but she couldn't handle herself that well against Shampoo, and if Shampoo teamed up with someone (like Ukyo and Kodachi again) then she would be in real trouble. Akane could take Ukyo by herself, or Kodachi, but all three?

For a brief moment he considered giving her some pointers. He knew Shampoo's fighting style well enough, he could try to prepare her for a next time, which knowing the Amazon mentality and single-minded determination, there inevitably would be. He dismissed the thought, knowing the moment he told Akane how slow and clumsy she was he'd be malleted. He'd be around to protect Akane from a mass attack, and that would be that.

Normally, that line of thinking would be enough to sedate his worries, but a little voice in the back of his mind wasn't so sure. As much as he hated to admit it, he had failed to protect her before. Although usually such occasions were because she was throwing herself in danger to save him, it didn't change the fact that he couldn't lightly depend on himself to save her. The near-death experience at Jusenkyo had even managed to shake Ranma's overwhelming over-confidence.

He could try to follow Soun's advice; sort out his affairs, and maybe things wouldn't be so chaotic if he did. It was not an overnight solution, considering the high strung emotions and people involved, but his parents and Soun had postponed the wedding so he had plenty of time.

Maybe he could talk to his mum about it. She might be able to help. All this thinking was starting to give Ranma a headache so he decided to stop do what he did best at school: sleep. Lowering his head down onto his arms he watched the teacher point to unrecognizable symbols on the board while his eyes slowly closed.

**----------------------------------------------**

All of a sudden the day had ended and Akane found herself walking along the canal with Ranma up on the fence on their way home. She thought about the challenge they had agreed on that morning.

It would be good to have Ranma lose for a change. For one thing, his ego desperately needed to deflate a bit. A dent from something small and inconsequential like this was the best way possible. Even better was imaging an uncomfortable Ranma, squirming in an ice cream parlor both fully male. He'd be unable to charm the cashier into free ice cream with his cute female body.

She grinned, that alone would be worth waking up even earlier and making sure to arrive perfectly on time everyday. She frowned slightly, remembering that once Ranma had been motivated enough to be on time. Onetime when their crazy principal had returned from Hawaii he candidate a new punishment for being late; cleaning the toilets for a week.

She would have to be crafty to make sure Ranma didn't make it to school on time, without overt efforts. Maybe if she could somehow arrange for him to get so tired during the day that he would be would oversleep the next day? This challenge would be good. She wanted to do something active and distract her from her memories of being helpless at Jyusenkyo and the wedding disaster.

"Hey Akane, what'cha smiling about?" Ranma asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Just something a friend of mine said today," she replied. Ranma raised an eyebrow skeptically, but didn't inquire further and Akane was happy to leave the conversation as it was.

Entering the house they took off their shoes and entered. Ranma called out "We're home," while Akane finished tiding up the shoes at the door. Ranma left upstairs ahead of her while she started up after him. He had disappeared into his and his father's room just as she reached the top of the stairs.

Entering her room she shut the door and put her schoolbag in its usual place before flopping done onto her bed face first with a bounce. Lying there she let the coolness of the covers seep into her.

As she lay there, Akane tried to come up with ideas to use against Ranma that he wouldn't notice and that wouldn't make her tired as well. But lying on her comfortable bed she started to feel tired and sleepy. Turning onto her side she felt her eyes begin to close before darkness covered everything.


	6. Chapter 5 Will

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Thank's for the reviews, people. They help keep me motivated.

NOTE: When Ranma is in female form, he will be referred to as a "she". Hope this avoids confusion.

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Disclaimer: "Blah"

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Chapter 5 - Working

Sitting on the porch at the back of the Tendo house by himself, Ranma was doing something he rarely did: He was worrying. There had been no sign of Ukyo, Kodachi, Shampoo or Ryoga for the entire week since they gate crashed the wedding. In the case of Ryoga, he wasn't particularly worried; that little black pig usually got lost for a few weeks anyway. But when the other two didn't show up, that usually meant they were planning something and that, inevitably, meant bad news for him in the form of paralyzing roses or a mallet from Akane. He strongly didn't want either one to happen.

Ranma was almost sure he had seen Ukyo around school, but he couldn't be sure. Normally she made her presence easily known at lunch, serving him an okonomiyaki or two. He still hadn't come up with a way to beat Akane in their bet, either. For the first time in his life he had succeeded in being early every single day of school for a week. Even the teachers and other students were starting to look askance at him.

Now that the half day of school was over, he had the rest of Saturday and tomorrow to do what he wanted -- to a certain extent, anyway. He thought about heading into the centre of town to see if there was anything worth doing. As far as he knew, Akane was in her room doing homework, so she probably wouldn't want to go and she probably wouldn't appreciate him interrupting her.

_'It would probably be much healthier if I left without bothering her,'_ he reasoned. He stood up and was about to enter the house when he heard the familiar voice of his father yell out "Boy, it's time for a lesson in defeat from your better!" Ranma dodged his father's punch and kicked out. Genma blocked the attack and leaped in preparation of a flying kick. Ranma grabbed his pop's leg and threw him towards the other end of the yard.

"Ha! Just like an old man. Like _you_ could teach me anything!" Ranma rejoined before charging at his father and kicking in low. Genma wasn't able to block and let out an "Oof," as the air was kicked out of him. Dodging back, Ranma said "Shessh, Pop. You're so old that you're already out of breath," Grinning he got ready to finish off his old man.

Regaining his winded breath Genma yelled back, "I'm not done yet boy, you'll see," with that Genma leaped into the air. Ranma jumped and kicked out, but his father twisted awkwardly in the air and both their eyes widened as they realized where Ranma's kick was going to end up.

With an almost audible crunch, Ranma's knee impacted hard into his father's groin. Instinctively, Ranma finished the move with a spin that sent Genma flying off into the koi pond. Ranma winced in sympathy before unsuccessfully suppressing a laugh at the site of a soggy panda clenching his groin in the middle of the pond.

From behind him he heard an "Oh my!" and turned around to see Kasumi standing in the doorway, looking worriedly out at his Pop who was still painfully groaning in the pond.

"You should stop laughing Ranma. Those poor fish in there are going to be in trouble unless we get him out," Kasumi remarked in the closest tone she ever used as a scolding.

Ranma just laughed harder and a bemused Kasumi was left standing there looking between him and the drenched Genma-turned-panda who was rolling around the lawn in obvious great pain.

**-------------------------------------------------**

Later that day, Ranma removed his father from the koi pond and rescued the fish that Kasumi had been so worried about. Ranma called out to Kasumi, who was pleasantly humming in the kitchen while taking care of the lunch dishes. "Yo Kasumi, I'm just going out for a bit, ok?"

"Okay Ranma, make sure you're back in time for dinner," she replied to his question without stopping her work. Ranma put on his shoes and left the Tendo's, walking down the road till he got to the fence that ran along the canal.

Jumping effortlessly up, he proceeded to walk casually along the top of the chain link fence, heading the way he would to school. Taking a side street before he reached Furikan High, he headed towards the shops and markets at the centre of town.

As he walked, Ranma continued to mull over the multiple problems he had, each one having a female name. The first was avoiding whatever the "fiancée brigade" was probably planning, but he didn't know exactly who, what, or when. Second, was that he _had_ to beat Akane. The way things were now, they would just keep going with no winner, and direct interference wasn't allowed.

There was also the idea that he had had about training her, although he was pretty sure that wouldn't go down well if he suggested it. It seemed whenever he tried to correct her and let her know she was slower than a snail or clumsier than ox, she got only more upset at him. At the same time, he wanted to make sure she could defend herself. Not that she couldn't already, but lately it seemed that the type of loonies they were both attracting were getting stronger. The images of Kiima and Saffron entered his mind and he forcibly pushed them aside. Those were not memories he wanted to relive. If nothing else, maybe training her would give her a tighter rein on that temper of hers -- or at least reduce the amount of mallet whacks he received.

Soun's stern talk also brooded on his thoughts. He had to decide what to do about him "sorting out his personnel affairs". '_I'm just not sure what it is I want! Do I _really_ want to marry that un-cute tomboy... and even if I do, would she like someone like me back?'_

Ranma decided to stop thinking as it was getting him nothing but a headache, and without Ryoga around he didn't have someone he could spar with properly to let loose some steam. The lost boy was good for a beating if nothing else.

Walking through the market, he let the noises around wash over him. Vendors' cries rang out, proclaiming themselves to have the best fish or meat, or freshest vegetables and fruit. The strident calls rang out over the general mill and hubbub noise of the crowds as they moved and talked.

Continuing on, Ranma reached the central shopping district and proceeded to window shop -- not really expecting to find anything he would want, considering his lack of funds. Up ahead he noticed a young guy about his age with black denim pants and a dust-gray t-shirt. He also had a black jacket resting near a traveling pack to one side of a sturdy looking box he had set up. His clothes looked well worn and the pack well traveled.

_'He looks a lot like me and Pop when we first came here'_ he realized as he watched the teenager stretch one arm then the other. His opponent was beaten in an arm wrestling match and walked away despondently. Intrigued, Ranma walked up to the stall noticing the queue of people in front of it.

As he got closer he was able to see a banner draped across the top and front of the box, proclaiming "Come and try you're strength against one of the strongest!! Pay 1,000 Yen to enter the competition and win back the jackpot!"

Next to the darkly dressed guy was a large plastic container filled to the brim with yen notes. Considering how much was in the jar this guy was as good as he claimed, or was blatantly cheating.

Watching as another opponent was quickly dispatched; Ranma noticed the brief flare of ki down the others arm as he forced his opponents arm down to the top of the box. '_Well at least he isn't cheating,' _Ranma thought, relieved. If he had, Ranma would have made a point of teaching him a lesson.

He watched a few more go through before turning away. There wasn't much point in joining the line, seeing as how his style was more speed then power. He also didn't usually focus his ki on just one part of his body like this guy could do.

_'If he's still there later, I might come by and ask him a few questions,' _he decided and walked on further into the district.

**-------------------------------------------------**

Ranma had been busy for most of the afternoon, although the "busy" part had consisted of dodging cold water and when that failed, staying on the lookout for hot water. Walking through the shops he had even considered buying an insulated canteen that he would be able to carry hot water around in. But once again, like the other times such an idea had occurred to him, the cost put him off.

Walking back towards home with the setting sun on his back, Ranma saw the arm wrestling martial artist. He was packing up for the day, rolling up his banner and placing it in his bag. Ranma walked across the road, about to ask the other's name, when he was beaten to the question.

"Hello. My name is Kumazawa Maki. You're interested in my ki technique, aren't you?" the teenager began, raising an eyebrow to mark the question at the end of the sentence.

Ranma found his tongue and replied "Uh, yeah. Actually, I haven't seen control of ki like that and I'd be interested in finding out more."

Ranma realized belatedly that he hadn't introduced himself yet. "Oh, I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes Martial Arts. Nice to meet you." Ranma held out his hand to Maki.

As they shook, Ranma could feel the calluses on Kumazawa's hand. '_This guy trains a lot, that's for sure,'_ he realized. Ranma watched while Maki finished packing up his improvised stall. Turning to Ranma with the box in one hand he said "I remember you from earlier today, watching me as I earned my bread money."

"Bread money?" Ranma asked as they started walking back through the market. "Yeah," Maki replied. "While on my trips I go from town to town and set up this little stall. Best way to earn enough to eat."

Ranma though about it for a moment. "Doesn't sound too bad, but have you been beaten for the jar before?"

Maki smiled self deprecatingly. "A couple of times actually, but I always have some spare and there's less in the jar than you think -- I don't keep everything I win in there."

"Where about are you headed?" asked Ranma.

Maki thought for a moment before answering with a shrug "I dunno. I was thinking of getting something to eat, then finding somewhere to sleep." He gave Ranma a cautious look. "Why'd you ask?"

Ranma replied straight away. "Just wanted to talk to you about your ki control. You're martial artist as well, so might as well spar with you if you're good enough."

Ranma noticed a gleam that appeared in Maki's eyes when he mentioned sparring and 'being good enough'. "Don't worry," he replied. "I'm _sure_ I'll give you a good run around."

"Why don't you come back to where I'm staying?" Ranma invited. "We have a dojo and that way we can talk and you can sleep a bit easier." Ranma noticed that Maki was eying him oddly. "What?"

Shaking his head, Maki replied to Ranma's question with one of his own. "Do you normally invite just anyone over, Ranma?"

Ranma thought about the question for a moment. "No... not really, but you weren't cheating those people back there or using more force than you had to win, so you're honorable. You don't seem the type to disrupt the household or force me to beat you up."

Still shaking his head, Maki motioned for Ranma to lead the way.

Traveling down the side street that joined onto the canal, Ranma suddenly heard a hissing sound that sounded suspiciously like a hose being turned on. Suddenly, he felt cold water splash onto his head and brief tingle of the transformation.

Sighing heavily, Ranma-chan looked up. An arc of water was going over the fence next to him and she heard voices, "Hey, watch it! There could be people in the street that you're splashing with that!" Another rejoined, "Aw, I doubt that at this time of night."

The voices became indistinct as they moved back into the garden taking the hose with them.

"Oh well... almost got back home in one gender." Realizing she couldn't hear Maki anymore, Ranma-chan realized something else. "Oh crap, I haven't explained this yet!"

Turning around, she found Maki frozen in place, staring at the redheaded pigtailed girl with wide eyes, which got even wider once he looked at the full transformation.

"Uh…heh heh..." Ranma-chan rubbed the back of her petite head in her usual bashful gesture. "This is a curse that my Pop and I managed to pick up during our travels. It's his stupid fault anyway, with me so far?"

Maki just stood there and nodded, eyes only slightly less wide at the sound of her soprano voice. Ranma continued. "Okay, then. When splashed with cold water I turn into a—a girl and my Pop turns into a panda. Hot water fixes this and turns us both back to normal. Oh, I should probably warn you there are a few others that have curses like mine and my Pop's who live in town."

Ranma watched Maki, waiting for him to speak. Gulping, Maki gathered himself together replying, "Yeah... okay. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. Martial artists can run into all sorts of things on training trips. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen in right in front of me, though."

Ranma nodded and continued walking, Maki catching up halfway down the street.

Walking along the canal the two reached the Tendo Dojo. "Tadaima!" Ranma called out as she took off her shoes, Maki following suit. Stepping into the dining room Ranma found Nabiki sitting at the table reading a manga. From the familiar sounds coming from the kitchen, he assumed that Kasumi was in there making the evening meal.

Nabiki's head came up and she raised her eyebrows at the young man who stood behind Ranma, waiting to be introduced. Ranma smiled and replied to the silent question. "Nabiki, this is Kumazawa Maki. Maki this is Tendo Nabiki."

"Hmm, a _boyfriend_ of yours, Ranma?" Nabiki inquired teasingly, eyeing the well built fellow. The middle Tendo daughter hadn't spent her whole life in a dojo without being able to sense a martial artist when she met one.

Ranma's face turned crimson. "Shut it, Nabiki. He's just someone I ran into down in the market, a martial artist with some techniques I'd like to learn off him."

He could almost hear Nabiki's brain adding up the cost.

"Don't worry, Nabiki. He won't stay long and I if he causes any damage, you can charge me with it, as you usually do," he defended her unspoken protest. "Anyway Maki, I'll introduce you to the rest of the family at dinner. Oh, that reminds me," Ranma walked into the kitchen.

"Kasumi, we'll have one extra for dinner tonight," he announced as he grabbed a hot water kettle and transformed back to his true self. Kasumi turned around and smiled. "Thank you for telling me, Ranma. Dinner should be ready in half an hour or so." Ranma nodded and left as Kasumi went back to her cooking.

Returning to where he had left Maki, Ranma noticed a putout looking Nabiki who was glaring daggers at Maki.

"What did you do?" he inquired.

Maki grinned and replied after a glance at the slightly miffed Tendo. "She was pestering me about my past and family and other such stuff and I answered that I would give the answers to the questions when everyone was here. No point in repeating myself. It seems that wasn't the answer Nabiki wanted."

Ranma laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like Nabiki," Nabiki shot him a glare that he wasn't sure did or did not promise some form of retribution involving him later on. "Heh heh ... anyway, would you like to go out to the dojo?" he asked Maki, quickly wanting to be out of Nabiki's way.

Maki smiled. "Sure, why not? Though I don't think we have time to spar properly before dinner."

Ranma thought for a moment. "Got a point, but we can still talk about your technique."

Maki shrugged and motioned for him to lead the way. Ranma obliged and walked out through the house to the covered walkway that led to the dojo, Maki trailing behind him.

Sliding open the dojo doors, Ranma led the way in. Once in the middle of the dojo, Ranma sat down in the lotus position and waited for Maki to shut the door. Maki joined him in the middle and sat in front of him.

Ranma eyed the guy across from him. "So Maki, what form of martial arts do you follow?"

Maki grinned back at him before answering "I thought you were never going to ask," he cleared his throat before he continued . "I myself and the rest of my family follow a sword and knife martial art; what we call Blade Martial Arts. I'm currently on my family's traditional journey to improve my skills. Once I'm old enough, I'll return home and complete the test for the next level."

Even though Ranma thought martial arts fighting with weapons was a waste of time (anyone skilled enough could disarm and avoid such things, in his opinion), he was still intrigued. "So, what level are you on now? What's the next level?"

Maki was silent for a moment, "Well, right now I'm qualified to use long knives and anything below that, such as Sai daggers. At the next level I'll be able to use Wakizashi and Katana's. For the most part though we only use those kinds of weapons against each other in practice, or official matches. Those are very closely supervised."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can understand that. Well I wont ask you what specific kind of weapons you currently use 'cos that would take the challenge out of our spar later on," he grinned at Maki who smiled back.

"Now what can you tell me about those ki techniques you were using earlier today?" he asked Maki.

Ranma watched as Maki sat for a moment and then began to answer his question. "Well first off all you know how to control ki right? To say produce a ball of it and launch it at an opponent?" Ranma nodded to each of Maki's questions.

"Well what we learn is how to divide the ki of the body into separate sections consisting of the left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg, torso and head. Then once we've learned that we practice flexing, I guess you could call it, our ki."

Pausing Maki looked at Ranma and he nodded showing that he was following what Maki had been saying and Maki obliged by continuing.

"Think of it as having an extra set of muscles actually, that may be a better example. So what this means is that I can use my ki to make my entire body stronger or just individual parts of my body." Maki stopped again making sure that he had been following.

Ranma slowly nodded his understanding "That would mean that if your control is good enough then you can increase the strength of your blows in close quarters if you have to resort to that."

Ginning at him Maki replied "Yes, though this means that the kempo we use is very close and not open like most other styles. This is usually a hindrance but with our weapons training you usually don't have to worry about having to resort to you needing to use your hands."

He was about to ask Maki another question, when they both turned their heads at the sound of the dojo door opening.

"Dinner's ready, Ranma," Nabiki said, sticking her head in between the gap.

"Thanks, Nabiki. We'll be right out." Nabiki nodded to him and left, leaving the door open behind her.

The smells of delicious food, that Ranma just couldn't get enough of, hit them as they entered the dining room and sat down at the table.

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	7. Chapter 6 Waiting

AN: I've redone the end section of the last chapter as you're right they weren't supposed to have time to spar although they did talk so all of you will want to go back and read that chapter again as it's end is now quite different from the first time I put it up.

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Disclaimer: "Blah"

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Chapter 6 – Waiting

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Akane was sitting at her desk going through her school work as the sky began to darken and dusk crept over Nerima. Turning on her desk lamp she leaned back in her chair and stretched out her legs and arms before relaxing. It would be dinner time soon but she had gotten almost all the work done that she wanted.

There were other things she wanted to have done though that weren't. The bet she and Ranma had made was still going and she wasn't sure when it would end. The way it had been set up in the beginning disallowed them interfering with each others trips to school which meant that only naturally occurring such as the regular challenge from Kuno had any chance of slowing them down. Or more accurately Ranma down, but Ranma wasn't even bothering to take his time

with Kuno these days.

She would have to come up with something that Ranma would agree to but would be an advantage to her over him. What could it be? She was going to have to spend some time after dinner thinking about this. If she could come up with a good enough advantage she could possibly beat him! It wasn't that she wanted him to take her out as a guy, of course not, it was only that she wanted to beat him at something!

Sitting the chairs legs back down she picked up her pen and was about to start working again when someone knocked on her door. Sighing with relief at being rescued from her schoolwork and thinking that it was dinnertime she went over to the door and opened it and as she expected found Nabiki there.

"Hey Akane, its dinner time," Nabiki announced with a smile that said she knew that Akane already knew what time it was. Akane smiled back "I'll be down shortly," she said turning back to her desk to tidy up.

-----------------

Just then the stairs creaked and Ranma looked up and watched as Akane walked down the stairs. He grinned. "Hey Akane, this is Kumazawa Maki. I met him today at the market in town, he practices Blade Martial Arts. Maki this is Tendo Akane, one of the other Tendo sisters."

Maki smiled mischievously at Ranma, obviously remembering His encounter with Nabiki earlier in the evening. Bowing from his sitting position, Maki replied to his introduction. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, Akane. I hope you don't mind me calling you by you're first name so soon after we've met?"

Akane sat down at her usual place next to Ranma before she replied "No, that's okay. Shall I call you Maki?" Maki nodded yes to her and grinned. Ranma saw the curiosity in Akane's eyes and whispered to her, "I'll explain why he's here later, when it's quieter," Akane nodded her understanding as Kasumi started to bring in dinner.

Ranma had made sure that he had placed Maki furthest away from his father who would without doubt probably attempt to steal the food from Maki's plate as he was a newcomer and Ranma had no doubt that his Pop would be in for a shock when it came to Maki's skill with chopsticks what with being used to handling knives and all.

So Akane sat at her usual place and Maki sat on the other side of Ranma. Kasumi was the first to start asking questions.

"So Maki, where are you from?" she broke the ice with. Maki turned to her "I'm from Okinawa actually but I've been told that you cant really tell," he gave a self depreciating grin. Kasumi looked at him closer before replying "Your right actually with the colour of your skin I thought you were from the mainland."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's because my mother was from the mainland and my father was from the Island. They met when my father was over for a martial artist gathering," Maki replied.

Soun took another bite of his food and asked "So Maki what martial arts do you practice, I think it was mentioned before but I missed it."

Maki turned his head towards Soun "Well me and my clan practice Blade Martial Arts, where everything that has an edge that can be used as a blade is used. This involves everything from Katana's down to razor blades. In conjunction with using edged weapons we also learn to used weapons counter to edged weapons, we also learn karate of the School Of Hard-Soft Karate which is one of the traditional karate's of Okinawa. Does that answer your question Mr. Tendo?" he asked with a grin.

Soun nodded to Maki "Yes it does a very nice summary in fact. I gather your school places more emphasis on the weapons use then the karate?" Maki nodded back as he was eating as Soun asked the question.

"Yes actually that's correct. Once the edged skills are at the highest they can be, more training is done on the unarmed side of the art." Maki turned towards Kasumi "This is great Ms Tendo very nice."

Kasumi blushed replying "Thank you Maki I'm glad you like it," and continued eating her food. Akane asked from beside Ranma "So do you travel a lot, and does it get in the way of school if you have to journey?"

"No actually, I finished high school last year so I'm doing my journeying now before I go to university. The way it doesn't get in the way or anything." Maki turned back to his bowl and continued to eat as Akane thought over his response.

Soon enough the dinner was over with most of the family satisfied with the questions they had asked their guest. Nabiki of course didn't say anything happy to get the information she wanted by listening to Maki's responses to the questions he was asked. Ranma stood up "Maki would you like to come out to the dojo for a bit," he turned to Akane "You wan'ta come as well Akane? It is martial arts after all."

Looking at Akane he though she looked happy, smiling regretfully though she replied "I'd like to but I've got something I need to do."

"Ok," he replied shrugging and lead the way out with Maki following. Akane's eyes watched them leave before she turned them back to the table and stood up "Thank you Kasumi that was great as always," she smiled and left the dining room behind her to head back to her room.

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Sliding open the dojo door's Ranma walked inside with Maki following behind him once Maki was inside Ranma slid shut the door. Ranma motioned to Maki "C'mon well sit in the middle of the dojo, I've got a few questions I'd like to ask you about you're art." Nodding, Maki followed after him "Ask away Ranma."

Grinning Ranma did as asked, "Well, I really only have one question, can you tell me if you're style use's any chi attacks? Do you use any of them?"

"Well we do use them actually and there's quite a lot of them but they take years of practice as all of them are very fine attacks. To answer your second question, no I don't use them at the moment I'm just a bit young to be taught them.

Nodding Ranma replied "That's good then, I say we make this a nice regular match so we can keep the damage to a minimum," grimacing Ranma elaborated at Maki's silent question "Me and my Pop have been here for a while and although he has a job with Doctor Tofu it's not really enough to pay the Tendo's back for the repair costs we've racked up, not to mention the food bill!"

"Ha ha yes I can see where that might be a problems yes." Maki joked while he thought over what Ranma had said.

Standing Ranma took up his lose ready stance and grinned "How's about we get this thing started so I can go to bed," while Maki sat on the floor for a moment appearing to be lost in thought. He watched closely as Maki stood up and reached inside his jacket. He wasn't very surprised when Maki pulled out a set of Tonfa the color of sand, looking well cared for and polished.

Some of his the surprise must have shown on his face, because

Maki grinned and said, "These are the basic weapons of our art, Ranma. I'm sure that you know why that is, don't you?" Ranma grinned back. "Yeah, I was surprised at first, but then I

remembered the ways to use it and of course where you're

from. It would suit you perfectly."

Ranma moved back from the center of the dojo and got into the loose ready stance he preferred and waited for Maki to get ready. His eyes never left Maki as he watched his opponent shed his jacket and move it over to the side of the dojo, where it wouldn't get in the way. Moving to a position of equal distance opposite Ranma, Maki held each Tonfa in his hands with the long end flush against his forearms in block position.

They bowed formally to each other and then Ranma stood ready, content to let Maki make the first move. He found letting his opponent begin would often show him some small advantage. Maki smiled at him knowingly and dropped into a ready stance, his front knee bent slightly over his foot and in front of him and his back foot slightly behind his body and shoulder width away from his other foot.

In a blur of movement, Maki swung up at Ranma with his arm in a probing punch to test his defenses. Ranma deftly dodged,

jumping up above the strike and retaliating with a low kick aimed at Maki's head. Maki blocked with the Tonfa on his right forearm and swung the left Tonfa out so the long section was no longer against his arm. Ranma pushed himself of Maki's arm as the left Tonfa moved through the space his leg had been.

They broke apart, Maki swinging the Tonfa back into place along his arm. Ranma landed and took up his stance, waiting. Maki came at him again, this time with _both_ Tonfa extended. Ranma mentally gauged the extra striking distance the Tonfa gave Maki.

Dodging back from the tight, striking swings Maki was making, Ranma looked for an opening. Ducking under a high kick from Maki, he spun around and away from the across strike by the right Tonfa. There! The weakness he was looking for. While Maki was changing the position of the Tonfa from defensive to offensive or vice versa he left a very brief, but small opening. This sort of opening wouldn't matter against an armed opponent.

Filing the information away for when he could make use of it in a future match Ranma concentrated on dodging another swing and countered with a lower strike.

The two traded blows for a few more minutes. Ranma had scored a hit on Maki's sternum while Maki in turn had struck his left arm while Ranma was dodging a high kick. Ranma continued to look for a pattern, but he didn't know all the techniques of the Tonfa. Just the basics his Pop had shown him when visiting a weapons based martial arts dojo in China.

The moved around for a few more minutes sparring before Ranma decided to end things as they were with the time they had left in the day. "I'm gonna say we finish now 'cos I don't have time to beat you right now," Ranma grinned at Maki and Maki's only reply was a grin as he and Maki bowed to each other.

Ranma waited while Maki picked up his jacket and placed the pair of Tonfa somewhere inside it before standing up to face Ranma. Maki walked over to him commenting "I'm fairly sure you would have beaten me eventually, after all those particular weapons were designed for use against an armed opponent.

"Yep I betcha' I would have beaten you too," Ranma grinned back as they left the dojo. Turning off the lights and sliding the door behind them as they left Ranma remarked thinking "Though I'm sure I might have been able to beat you but you've shown me I need to improve my skills against armed opponents. I don't know about using them, I'd rather not use 'em in case I hurt someone."

They continued talking as they walked into the house walking past his Pop and Mr. Tendo who were busy playing Shogi. Walking through the dining room Ranma noticed Kasumi coming out of the hallway on the ground floor. Smiling she turned towards them "I've set up the guest room down the hall here for Maki so you should be comfortable," she said.

Ranma smiled back "Thanks Kasumi, I'll show Maki the way there." Nodding she walked past them and into the kitchen turning on the light as she did. Ranma turned to Maki "Down here you won't have to worry about my Pop or anything interrupting your sleep from the noise of going through your stuff."

Maki looked puzzled "Huh, really? What an odd thing for someone of your fathers age to do."

Ranma opened the door to the room "Well not if you know my Pop it's not but you don't know him so its ok." Turning on the light switch for Maki he asked "Anything else I can do, otherwise I'm off to bed."

Covering his mouth as he yawned and walking into the room Maki turned back to Ranma "No, I'm fine, I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"That you will," Ranma replied, covering his own mouth as he reciprocated Maki's yawn "Night, I'm off to bed." Ranma shut the door behind him and walked down the hall.

The weekend had been busy so he hadn't had much time to think about things as he might have otherwise liked but he had picked up another fellow martial artist who looked capable of doing some good hand to hand fighting.

He'd worry about everything else later, right now he wanted sleep. Ranma walked up the stairs and into the noisy snoring darkness that was his shared room.

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	8. Chapter 7 Wishing

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 7 – Wishing

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Closing the door behind her, abruptly cutting off the noise of her and Ranma's father talking about shoji, Akane smiled before heading over to her desk. Maki seemed to be a decent enough martial artist and as he was older then Ranma by quite a few years it would have been an interesting sparring much, one that she had wanted to see.

But now that Ranma was occupied for a decent amount of time she could come up with some ideas as to how to win the bet they were still stalemated on. First she would go through what she couldn't do in order to see what she could do.

Taking out a piece of paper and a pen from her top desk draw she began to jot down points of the bet Ranma and her had made. The first and probably to most important one was that they couldn't directly interfere with each other directly and that the other person, hopefully Ranma, would be late because of their own actions.

Actually now that she thought of it that was the only condition that had been placed on the bet. But if she wanted to win she was going to have to bend the rules a little bit. She wouldn't be able to interfere directly but if she could get someone else to interfere without telling them the reason behind her wanting their help she would only be bending them a small bit.

The two plans she had in mind would both work but the second one was easier to pull off and she would be able to beat Ranma without any suspicious circumstances. But if she proceeded with either plan she would most likely need to tell Nabiki part of what she was doing, though not her real reasons for doing them. That way her sister wouldn't be suspicious enough of what she was going to do to care what she was doing or interfere.

If she was lucky she would have Ranma beaten by the beginning of school tomorrow and if not by the morning of the day after. Reaching into the draw below the one she had taken the pen and paper from Akane held up a small square packet with a cardboard back and a plastic front.

Inside this packet was a brand new nine volt battery. Akane smiled to herself and turned to her alarm clock. Turning the clock over in her hands so that the bottom faced up she removed the battery from the wrapping and clipped it into its place in the bottom of the alarm were a specific gap for it was made.

Having a battery inside this alarm clock had saved her many times from being late for school when a power outage flicked off and on the power in the house resetting all the clocks. Instead of resetting her alarm would use the battery's power to stay on until the battery was drained or the power came back on.

Ranma had been using an old alarm clock in his room to wake him up since the bet began instead of relying on Akane to knock on his door. Due to its age however Ranma's alarm didn't take a battery so if the power went off the clock would reset.

She would wait until latter in the night when everyone but her and Nabiki was asleep and she would flick off the power to the second floor using the fuse box. Nabiki she had to tell because she was often up late and had her own alarm clock that would be reset.

Kasumi would be fine, she had gotten up waking to some internal clock at the same time for years, but Ranma wouldn't have his alarm go off, it would seem to be the fault of a simple power outage and most importantly she would beat Ranma.

A broad smile appeared on her face as she thought through her plan, nodding to herself she resolved to make up a believable reason for what she was going to do that would convince Nabiki not to interfere in any way.

As far as she knew Nabiki was unaware of the bet which would help Akane to convince her and if she could think of a reason that was half true then that would hopefully be enough to prevent Nabiki picking up an outright lie and questioning her.

Akane settled herself more comfortably into her chair prepared herself to spend to reset of the evening planning out the defeat of Ranma Saotome.

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Nabiki looked over at her beside clock to check the time as she lay on her bed reading. The red numbers on the screen had eleven thirty shaped with a red dot next to the P.M. symbolizing the time of the day. Everyone else would be in bed by now except for maybe Ranma, Akane or their newcomer Maki.

Maki interested her, he had finished high school and was about to begin college. He wasn't another freeloader like Ranma and his father, although at least the fat panda had gotten a job at Tofu's clinic, though that was only useful when he actually turned up and worked.

It was almost too bad he was a wandering martial artist, she smirked to herself at the thought. Clearing her face she looked up as a knock rang on her door.

"Come in," she said and waited for whoever it was to open the door and reveal themselves. True to her theory it was one of those she had speculated would possibly still be up and Akane walked in and closed her bedroom door behind her.

Nabiki quirked her eyebrow in question and waited for Akane to speak, moving over towards her Akane spoke.

"Nabiki, I wanted to know if you could help me with something?" Akane asked.

Nabiki smiled "Sure sis, what's the problem?"

Akane paused for a moment and sat down on her bed before replying, "Well I'd like to teach Ranma a lesson, specifically about being late to school in the morning."

Frowning Nabiki replied "He's been on time for the last two weeks now from what I've heard around the school yard. Was there any specific reason?" There was something behind this and she was sure Akane was hiding something.

"Well he hasn't really been paying attention to classes until recently and has been late fairly often, so what I wanted to do was have him come late one more time so that he really learns his lesson." Akane was smiling by the end of her sentence and Nabiki was sharing a grin with her at the idea.

Although it wasn't often that Akane held a grudge, with her it was more like she was happy once she had hit Ranma in some way, but this fit with some of the things her little sister had done to Ranma in the past.

Putting her finger on the page of her book so she wouldn't lose it Nabiki said "Ok so what are you going to do and what do you need my help with?"

Akane smiled a little before answering "Well you see I don't really need your help as such, this is more like me giving you a heads up."

Nabiki nodded at let her continue "I'm going to go to the fuse box once I'm done talking to you and I'm going to flick the power to the second floor on and off, this will reset Ranma's alarm clock and he wont get up in time tomorrow, I thought I'd tell you because I wasn't sure about weather or not your alarm would go off as well."

She was silent for a moment before she replied, it was a good idea and it would have a fair chance of success as well, her alarm wouldn't be changed, she had replaced the backup battery a couple of weeks ago.

"Ok well if you really want to go for it, I've got my battery in my alarm so it'll be fine when you flick the switch, just make sure you do it quickly so the light bulbs don't go," nodding Akane smiled and stood up.

"Thanks for the help sis, and make sure you don't let slip to Ranma what I've said to you" she replied before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Nabiki shook her head, you didn't get far buy blabbing secrets to just anyone, she wasn't sure what was going on between her sister and Ranma but it obviously wasn't anything odder then what had been going on for more then a year now and she could always find out tomorrow or the day after at her leisure using her usual methods if it was that critical.

Picking up her book again she continued reading and only didn't even pay much attention to the momentary flick off and on of the light bulb half an hour later except to slightly smile.

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Waking up to her alarm Akane didn't immediately register why she felt something was important. Then what she had done the night before came back in a rush. If she was lucky Ranma was still asleep and she would be able to leave without him waking up until later when it would too late for him to make it to Furikan in time.

Akane proceeded to go through her usual morning routine of late, which involved her having a wash, getting dressed and then going downstairs to eat breakfast. Normally at this stage Ranma would join her a few minutes later after he was ready to eat. As she sat down and ate she had trouble not letting the elation she felt show on her face as the minutes passed by and Ranma still didn't appear at the table.

Kasumi walked out of the kitchen and seemed taken aback when she noticed Ranma wasn't there.

"Akane where's Ranma? He's usually already here," she questioned hopefully.

"Well I'd say he might still be in bed but its not like him recently to sleep in," she replied before adding "I'd wake him but he's asked me not to, something about getting up on his on steam."

Kasumi glanced up at where Ranma's room would be with a slight frown on her face before turning back into the kitchen.

Finishing her breakfast a few minutes later Akane joined her there to collect her lunch. The only problem she could see at this stage would be Kasumi checking on Ranma and him rushing off to school, maybe even making it on time.

"Kasumi, I don't think he's sick, but if you check on him after breakfast and wake him up and he's fine and just slept in, make sure he has a bath and everything before you send him off." Akane picked up her lunch as Kasumi replied nodding "Yes, I'll make sure he does, it just wouldn't be proper otherwise."

Akane added "After all if he's going to be late he might as well turn up clean," she smiled as she left the kitchen. Nabiki would already be ahead of her at possibly already at school, but she had now almost guaranteed her winning the bet at that's what mattered.

"Bye Kasumi," she called out as she put her shoes on at the front door "See you later."

She heard Kasumi call out to her as she left "Bye Akane, have a good day."

Laughing a little to herself as she walked down the path and onto her street she though that today would in fact be a good day.

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A knock on Ranma's door woke him up and after making sure his panda Pop was still asleep he immediately checked his alarm clock for the time. Stifling a groan at the sight of the blinking red lights that obviously had the wrong time he stood up and walked over to the door.

Opening it he saw Kasumi draw back the hand she had obviously been about to knock on his door again with. Quickly asking her before she spoke Ranma said "Kasumi, what time is it?"

Kasumi smiled at him "Well I checked the clock before I came up to check on you and it said it was close to nine o'clock."

The first thought that crossed Ranma's mind was _I lost, I don't lose, I never lose_. All because of what looked like a power outage, if Kasumi wasn't there he would have been tempted to provoke his father into a fight. But because she was there instead he smiled and replied "Thanks for waking me up Kasumi, I suppose I better get ready for school."

Kasumi nodded and turned away saying over her shoulder "Make sure you take a bath first before you leave."

"Yeah I will," he replied and with that he closed the bedroom door behind him and followed Kasumi down the stairs.

Ranma didn't take his time getting ready but he wasn't as quick as he usually was, after all no point in rushing now, but he also didn't want to be too late. That tended to piss of the teachers a lot. After having his bath and eating the breakfast Kasumi had left him he left the house and started walking down the road.

He'd told Kasumi that he and Akane would be home a bit later today because of some practice at school, which she luckily accepted, though in fact he'd be treating Akane.

He'd done some odd jobs for the Doc so that he had the money to back up his bet. He hadn't been able to imagine losing the bet but he had thought it prudent to have to money just in case. After all if he hadn't had it he would have a very pissed off Akane coming to mallet him into the sky, which always made his day.

Walking along the streets of Nerima on his way to school Ranma reflected that this would be the end to an interesting two weeks. He would keep getting up on his own though, it was just easier in most ways. He could avoid his Pop this way and even though he was getting up earlier then usual if he ever felt the need for a bit of exercise he could beat up his Pop after school instead of doing it before hand.

This pissed Akane off less because she wouldn't be late due to him and his Pop and that would mean less malleting of him, he never could figure out where that thing was coming from or when.

He'd almost reached his decision on something else that was important to him. Back when he had been sitting on the rooftop thinking about what had happened at Phoenix Mountain he had been trying to decide what to do about training Akane. If he could get her father interested in participating that would maybe work as well.

He'd also had time over these last two weeks to think about what he was going to do about Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi. Two of them had problems around them that would make it difficult to try and fix things up to how they should be.

Kodachi was just crazy, and that would present its own problems, but Shampoo was obligated by the Amazons to marry him. Ukyo who was a friend would have to have her dowry replaced or something like that. His Pop had messed things up something awful.

On the particularly curly problem of those three he would have to think on more, he hadn't had much chance to talk to his mother or see her recently so he might spend some time with her while at the same time asking her to help him figure out what to do.

Ranma looked around and was startled to realize that his feet had brought him to the gates of Furikan High School all on their own. Jumping up onto the wall Ranma dropped down inside the school grounds landing lightly before heading over to the entrance to school.

He'd do his bucket duty and either talk to Akane about when she would want to collect her winnings, Ranma smiled at the thought of the Parfaits as winnings, either at lunch or after school.

Reaching out he opened one of the big double doors and walked through into the school to face his fate.

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Stretching his arms out in front of him in the backyard of the Tendo estate Maki kept his mind clear as he practiced his cool down exercises and kata's. His mind stayed focused as he went through the movements of his arts movements.

Finishing up he picked up the towel that Kasumi had given him upon his announcement of going out the back to exercise and wiped himself down before heading over to the house. There was only so much he could do around the estate as payment to subsidize the cash he was paying to the sister named Nabiki.

She had suggested he have a look around during the day and see what he could do in the way of maintenance or any other work. He'd had a look around earlier in the morning when everyone else had left for school and noticed some work that could be done to fix the dojo but he would only be able to work with the materials available.

Hopefully by the time she had finish he would have some work done that Nabiki could credit him with and cut a little off the bill he would be paying. He had to admit it was cheaper then staying at a hotel and more comfortable then the park. A brief thought of the occasions he had been forced into such situations brought a smile to his lips.

Turning back to the pile of wood and the other necessary materials that houses kept on hand Maki thought of the best way to do what needed to be done. It seemed they had everything, possibly from some recent repairs, but they didn't have the workmen to do the work.

Shrugging to himself he picked up a plank and set to planning.

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Ranma stood in the hallway. He had a bucket in each hand that he had half filled with water so as to try and decrease the chances of a splash, not that it was likely to work. Upon arriving at school he'd gone to his second period class and being slightly late but not too late he'd been ordered to do bucket duty for half the class.

So here he was waiting in the hall for either Kuno to come charging down the hall to challenge him for either Akane's hand, not that he even had it in the first place, or to demand what he had done with his "Pig tailed goddess," or it would be Shampoo breaking through the wall with her bike to give him some kind of Amazon spiced dish that would end up with Akane whacking him for some reason.

He was mildly surprised when this didn't happen and the teacher called him in.

"Mr Saotome, you've been out there half the class now so I'll ask you to empty the buckets and put them back where they belong and be so kind as to join us for the remainder of the class," the teacher remarked after he had entered the classroom.

He grinned back at the teacher "Sure thing," and left the classroom again to get rid of the buckets. Managing for once in his cursed life to avoid the water in the buckets, Ranma returned to the class and took his usual spot next to Akane.

About five minutes later a note landed without a sound on his desk, reaching he picked it up and unfolded it. Unsurprisingly it was from Akane and asked "Home come you were late today?" Thinking about his luck so far Ranma decided no to push it when it came to notes, the teacher and more bucket duty and quickly wrote "I'll tell you at lunch," before picking an appropriate moment in which the teachers back was turned before he got the note over to Akane's desk.

Ranma settled himself in for the class and prepared to endure the others before lunch.

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	9. Chapter 8 Words

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 8 - Words

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The clock ticked around as slowly as Ranma had feared that it would. The minutes seemed hours and the hours seemed endless as Ranma sat in class. He stayed focused though, much the same as he had been recently at least, but the classes seemed to take forever on this particular day.

He just wanted to get to lunch so he could get his explanation over and done with. Ranma Saotome felt no need to linger over his defeat as he was being forced to do now. He could take Akane out to the Parlor tonight and pay for her parfait as he had agreed to.

Initially he had refused to believe that he had lost but it had gradually sunk in on the way to school. But at least he hadn't lost to her in anything important, and it was martial arts that really mattered. This was just because he was bored and wanted to clear his mind of Phoenix Mountain.

Once that was done with he would be able to put this defeat behind him and concentrate on whatever the next challenge might be.

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The bell finally having rung for lunch Ranma packed up his things and getting out his lunch left the school room to head out to his usual spot under the large tree near the gates.

Sitting down outside in the shade Ranma prepared to eat his lunch with gusto, when he was interrupted.

"So Ranma…what do you want to do after school?" Akane asked him quietly.

Ranma looked up at her before answering a little surprised by the lack of triumph in Akane's voice. But then seeing as how they hadn't told anyone she wouldn't really be interested in gloating in public, she just wasn't like that.

"Well I'll do what I agreed and we'll head over to the Ice Cream shop, I brought along a thermos that I can fill with hot water before we leave, just so I can keep up my part of the bargin." He smirked lopsidedly at her at the look in her eyes, she had seemed a little surprised.

When she didn't answer he frowned "Whats the matter? That's what we agreed on isn't it? Well?"

She took a breath before answering, "No there's nothing wrong and you're right that's what we agreed on, I just expected you to be a little bit more, um, difficult about it."

Ranma grinned at her and swallowed his mouthful of rice "We'll you know it was a fun bet, not like it was something life threatening or really serious," her face seemed to darken a little but it was probably just the wind moving the leaves "But at least I get to eat the ice cream too even if I have to pay more for it this time."

She smiled at him and had him thinking again of how nice she looked when she smiled, turning around she said over her shoulder "Ok, I'll meet you after school at the gate."

With that she left to join her friends and Ranma was left in peace to eat his lunch, at least until Daisuke and Hiroshi turned up and started badgering him with questions about the conversation.

Getting sick of dodging their questions Ranma snapped back "Guys, it wasn't anything important all she was doing was asking me if I'd be at the gate at the end of school. Now leave it alone and let me eat me lunch!" With that the three of them started talking about safer topics while eating, with the other two doing most of the talking.

For the rest of the afternoon Ranma let his mind wander around inside his head. After lunch he'd decided to make today a rest day, he would just take things a bit easier today and then start concentrating later.

Even if the bet was finished with the bet he could still get up early, now that Maki was around Ranma would see if he would spar with him in the mornings.

Then there was all the other things he wanted to do. At the start of this week he'd felt the gloom that had been dogging him since the trip to China and then the failed wedding, that now seemed like ages ago but in fact had been weeks ago, lift from his mind.

He was focused again and looking for something to challenge him, the old Granny would probably know some techniques he would be interested in but would undoubtedly be accompanied by the usual magic herbs, potions and ramen designed to ensnare him against his will.

That left either beating up his Pop for not much exercise, sparring with Maki which definitely appealed to him, training Akane which he wasn't sure about just yet or dealing with his three self proclaimed fiancés.

Sparring with Maki was something he would definitely do, after all who knew how long the knife martial artist would be around for. He would wait till this afternoon at the ice cream parlor to ask Akane about the training. After all she probably wouldn't even be interested he reasoned happily.

With that settled Ranma prepared to doze his way through the rest of his afternoon classes.

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Cleaning up her desk Akane prepared the books she would take home to read and study. Although she had tried not to show it she had been looking forward to this for most of the day, though the occasional twinge of guilt made her feel a little bit less happy then she could have.

But after all she was a member of the Tendo branch of the Anything Goes school, so why shouldn't she use all her weapons? Still, even that justification felt hollow in her ears as she repeated it to herself.

Glancing around she saw Ranma waiting for her over near the door. Quickly finishing up she walked over and joined him. After a quick detour so that Ranma could fill up his thermos they left the school in companionable silence the they both headed out the school gates and took their usual route to the ice cream parlor.

Akane kept expecting Ranma to say something but he didn't, he just walked along with her smiling slightly. When she finally worked herself up to asking him what he was smiling about his answer was simpler then she had thought.

"Well you see Akane, today wasn't too bad a day for school anyway. I didn't have to deal with Kuno for whatever reason and school went faster then usual."

Sniffing she replied "That's because you slept through most of the afternoon."

Grinning at her he replied "Well it seemed to be the best thing to do at the time. Anyway, I'm feeling good today and I'm looking forward to that parfait," he grinned at her "Even if it comes at an extra cost."

"Ha, not that much of an extra cost considering how cheap you usually get them," she remarked disapprovingly.

Soon enough they were at the shop and walked in. Akane went and sat down in the usual spot they sat while Ranma went up to the counter and ordered the two parfaits, the one that he usually got and one that she had specifically asked for on the way to the shop.

It wasn't the most expensive one in the store but it wasn't a cheap one either. Ranma walked back over to her and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

He seemed different to her today then he did most days lately. He seemed slightly cheerier then usual even with his earlier explanation, but it was probably him just eager to eat the ice cream she reasoned.

Soon enough the waiter brought over the deserts and Ranma after surreptitiously looking around to see who else was in the store proceeded to pick up a spoon and after taking a second glance around, proceeded to begin eating his desert.

Akane watched him for a moment, Ranma was going slower then usual and seemed to be savoring the ice cream more. Pushing Ranma's eating habits to the back of her mind Akane began the process of eating her parfait.

There was still a twinge though that wasn't brain freeze as she ate and thought of how she had won her prize.

They sat together neither one of them speaking enjoying the silence and the parfaits in front of them. Buy the time she was half way through hers Ranma has a quarter of his left _He's eating it at about half his usual rate _she thought wryly to herself.

As she ate and watched him covertly Ranma finished his parfait and placed the spoon in the bowl she noticed him looking thoughtful.

Finishing her mouthful of cream and ice cream she asked "What is it Ranma?" as she spooned up more ice cream.

With the thoughtful look on his face Ranma looked at her "Well this is probably the first time I've eaten one of these in my guy from. As far as I can remember every one I've had has been in my cursed form," he shrugged and continued looking thoughtful.

"But, the most interesting thing is that this parfait, while it's the one that I always get, tastes different this time, and I think its because I'm a guy this time. It's happened to me before when I eat the same thing but in a different form. Each one tastes certain things differently. Usually the sweet things as apposed to say something like rice."

Akane finished her parfait and sat thinking for a moment "Well as long as what you eat doesn't taste worse, is it a bad thing?"

Ranma smiled slightly "Well what I eat doesn't taste worse in each form, just different, so no I guess its not a bad thing," Seeing that they were finished the waiter headed over to their table and picked up the dirty bowls, taking them away.

The thoughtful look was still on Ranma's face but he wasn't saying anything, so she didn't say anything either. They sat their for a minute or two she couldn't say, she was busy trying not to look to hard at his eyes, his voice startled her out of her revere.

"Akane, I know that you've wanted me to spar with you seriously for a while now, and I refuse to all the time because, well, because you're a girl," he held up his arms against her primed fist "Wait! Wait! I'm not done yet."

Akane let her rage go down a bit and took control of herself "Ok then, I'm listening but this better be good Ranma!" She warned him.

"Yeah I'd gathered that," he eyed her warily "Anyway it partially because you're a girl and because of my Pop and a whole bunch of stuff I don't really need to go into right now," he rattled off quickly, still eying her watchfully.

"But! But, I'm willing to slightly change that in a sense," he took a breath and she waited "If your interested I'd be willing to train you in the Saotome side of the Anything Goes style and whatever I can get out of your dad on the Tendo side."

Akane sat there in shock as he finished talking mouth agape while she processed what she had just heard Ranma say.

Closing her moth she replied as seriously as she could "Ok, who are you? What have you done with the real Ranma? I not even kidding, I've been kidnapped too many times to let you try and get away with this," she finished smirking as his mouth hung open.

"Don't worry Ranma I wasn't serious," she smiled at him.

Closing his mouth and shaking his head Ranma looked at her levelly "So, do you agree to my idea? As you said you've been kidnapped a few times now," they both grinned at the understatement "So I thought you might like to do some training so you can stop that happening."

She nodded in agreement "True I would, but what guarantee do I have from you that you will actually train me?" She asked him.

Ranma stood up "Well I give you my word for one thing that I will train you starting when you want, depending on other things that we can sort out at home," he extend his hand out to her "Plus we can shake on it too," he grinned at her.

Akane looked at Ranma's hand and tried to think of all that it offered, both the good and the bad. Right now she was mostly sure that there was more good to the deal then bad, plus she could always just stop the training if she ever thought she had to for whatever reason.

She took his warm, slightly calloused hand and they shook firmly twice. Then as it was obvious Ranma wanted to leave she picked up her bag as he picked up his and waited while the waiter came over and gave him the receipt for what Ranma owed.

Ranma handed over the money without complaint or grumbling she was a little surprised to see, thought it did ease the guilt she kept telling herself wasn't really there.

The bell on the door rang as they left the parlor and headed off in the direction of home walking along the path together.

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Cologne stepped back into the Cat Café in the late afternoon before the evening dinner rush began. The last weeks since the group had returned from Phoenix Mountain had been a bit of a vacation for the amazons.

She had wanted to give Ranma some time to recover after the momentous events that had happened in China and then that joke of a wedding she had been forced by honor to interrupt although the extra help that she had received had resulted in more damage then she had wanted or needed.

What she suspected she had seen today though proved that her slight vacation was definitely over as well as Shampoo's if they were to retain both their and the tribes honor.

Going out the back to the kitchen Cologne out on an apron and began to cook the noodles, rice and other assorted things for the dinner rush. Shampoo was out among the tables taking orders from the at the moment small amount of customers who had come in early.

She would talk to her granddaughter later on once their day was done. Soon they would be able to return to China with honor and with a new man for the tribe who would strengthen them greatly.

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Akane opened the front door and walked in calling out "We're home," to anyone who was interested in their comings and going.

As usual Kasumi popped her head of the kitchen "Welcome home Akane, Ranma. Maki's outside at the moment, I think he's been fixing up the dojo," with that she smiled retreating once more to her world of pans, spices and food.

The two teenagers walked up the stairs to their rooms on the second floor of the house. Akane entered her room and shutting the door behind her she flung herself down onto her bed and lay there for a moment before flipping herself over to gaze at her roof.

This afternoon had been great. She and Ranma had, had a proper conversation together that hadn't resulted in her having the beat him up and he had even offered to train her!

All she had to decide was if she wanted to take him up on his offer.

Seeing as how it was Friday and they had the weekend ahead of them she would think about it and weigh up the benefits and ask him either Sunday or Monday about it.

With that decided she changed into a dress and hanged up her school uniform for the half day tomorrow and put her school bag over near the desk in preparation for the work she'd be doing later.

Walking downstairs she found Ranma sitting out on the back deck with a plate of cookies and glass of milk as was the usual while Maki was squatting down in front of him on the grass.

Picking up her own plate she walked over and sat down near Ranma leaving a half meter gap between them where she put her plate and glass. Ranma glanced over at her as she sat down before returning to eating his cookies and his conversation.

Akane sat and listed so she could follow the conversation "So how much work did you need to do to fix up the dojo?" Ranma was asking Maki.

Scratching his head a bit before replying Maki said "Well it wasn't too bad most of it was in replacing weak roof supports as well as the inside of the roof. I fixed up a few more things around the house too," Maki finished grinning.

Akane took a bite out of another cookie while Ranma and Maki continued to talk. Akane could feel the warmth of the sun as it started its inevitable journey down to the horizon, the smell of grass, flowers and wood was all around her and she breathed it in deeply enjoying herself.

Akane excused her self from the two martial artists and took her plate to Kasumi "Thank you Kasumi," she said and heard Ranma follow her "Thanks Kasumi," handing over his plate before returning to the back deck.

Following the routine that had started two weeks ago Akane went upstairs to study while Ranma stayed out the back to practice his kata's while Maki watched for the moment.

She felt a little thrill at the idea that maybe some day after practicing she could join in, she pushed the feeling down. _That's if I choose to learn from him! _

Opening up her book bag she took out her exercise and text books and proceeded to start studying. The breeze outside made her curtain ruffle slightly and brought in fresh air as she contemplated her work completed and that ahead of her.

Soon enough night had fallen and Akane turned on her light so that she could see properly, only to be interrupted by Kasumi's voice "Akane, dinners ready."

"Ok Kasumi, I'll be right down," stretching her arms above her head and her toes out in front of her Akane closed her windows and left downstairs to dinner turning the light of as she left the room.

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AN: Yeah I know probably not the best place to end this chapter but I needed to stop it here so I could get the next one going properly. Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think :)


	10. Chapter 9 Weary

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 9 – Weary

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It was a lazy warm summer Saturday afternoon in the town of Nerima. In the Tendo compound out the back in the dojo, having sparred when Ranma had gotten back from school the aforementioned martial artist of Anything Goes and Maki sat discussing various moves and techniques of their respective styles.

"We'll you see Ranma, once I get further along in my training I get to learn more advanced chi techniques. Things like making knives from my chi, defensive shields all sorts of things," Maki grinned at Ranma who essayed a smile of his own.

"I just find it odd that they would wait that long to teach you is all," Ranma replied "I mean my Pop started teaching me when I was still pretty young."

Maki smiled "Yes, but you spent most of your time traveling around as well, the way my family likes to work is to get all the schooling out of the way in one go and then concentrate as much time as possible on martial arts."

Ranma thought wistfully of being able to spend all his time doing nothing but Anything Goes. The idea held great appeal to him.

"I can see how that would be a good way to do things too," Ranma replied.

Maki nodded "It's just a different way of doing things that's all, and now I'm going to go inside and get a drink, you want one Ranma?"

Ranma waved him off "Nope don't worry about it I'm not thirsty yet." With that Maki stood up and walked inside as Akane came out, as they passed the two exchanged nods.

Ranma sat with his legs crossed enjoying the feel of the green grass on his bare feet he watched Akane walk over to him. She had been behaving oddly lately and he wasn't going to be stupid enough to say something that would end up with his face in the grass he had been enjoying so much, or at least he was going to try anyway.

Once she'd stopped in front of him with her eyes oddly downcast Ranma decided to open with something that wouldn't get him in the aforethought trouble "Hey Akane, whats up?"

She looked at him oddly for a moment before she cleared her throat "Um, well Ranma I'd like to talk to you for a moment," was the unexpected reply he got.

Taking a few seconds two think over what she had said and what he should say Ranma said "Sure, do you want to stay out here or go someplace?"

Her eyes looked thoughtful for a moment "How about the dojo? I haven't spend much time looking at it as apposed to practicing in it and it would be good to see what it looks like now after all."

Ranma nodded and stood up before ambling over to the dojo doors with Akane following behind. He slid open the door and waited for Akane to enter just like his mother had drilled into him during his last visit to her.

As much as he enjoyed his Sunday morning visits with her, which he'd started two weeks ago, seeing as how he got to spend time with his mother she sure gave him a lot of stuff to remember most of which he forgot.

Akane looked at him oddly and walked in ahead of him, he slid the door shut behind him and was struck be an almost dejavu moment of when he had closed the door that night Akane had fallen asleep in the dojo.

He gave a start as he realized he was daydreaming about carrying her again _No way man, the first time was bad enough making sure no one woke up, she did feel good in my arms though _he thought. Leaving behind his day dreams Ranma walked over to the middle of the dojo where Akane was standing looking around admiringly at the newly restored building.

"Looks good doesn't it," he ventured. Akane nodded a little awestruck before replying "Maki did a great job in here it looks brand new."

As odd as Akane had been behaving and as interested as Ranma was in possibly finding out the reason for it he was still a bit off kilter about saying anything. Lucky for him he didn't have to.

Akanes face resolved into a slight frown and she turned around to face him. "Ranma I have something to admit that you're probably not going to like," Ranma was instantly on guard.

"Oh? What might that be?" He asked her. Her face changed a little with an emotion he couldn't identify before she spoke.

"Well you know how we agreed to not directly interfere with each other when it came to being late for our bet?" Akane paused and he nodded for her to continue. "Well I kind of bent those rules a little," grimacing a little she continued "Well maybe not even, the little I did might count as breaking them but that's not the point."

Ranma gave a start at Akane's last statement thinking _I wonder what she did? Something to do with our bet? _

Akane's voice broke through his thoughts and he concentrated on what she was saying "Well what happened was while everyone was asleep I went downstairs and flipped the fuse switch off and then on again. Which of course caused your alarm to reset and made you late," she said getting the last bit out in a rush.

Ranma stood there silent for a moment thinking over what she had said and what they had agreed on. Sure what she had done wasn't direct interference though it ran close, he wasn't sure if it was close enough to invalidate her win though. Seeing as how the bet was made in the spirit of Anything Goes, realistically she could have done lots of other things.

He had thought that when he had lost it was because of something that had just happened weather or not they wanted it. But if she had thought that up maybe she understood anything goes better then he thought.

Still though, maybe he could think of something what would make her happier, tell her off a bit and not get him hurt at the same time. He smiled as an idea hit him.

"Alright Akane while you might not have cheated directly what you did wasn't completely within the spirit of the bet, so in regards to that, I say that you still won the bet."

A relieved expression came over her face and she opened her mouth to speak Ranma held his hand up and continued "But because it wasn't in the spirit of the competition I declare that you have to shout me a parfait at the ice cream parlor, and there will be a couple of other things that we'll go over later sometime" he finished grinning.

Akane stood there her mouth agape for a moment, she seemed torn between emotions before she found her voice "Ok I can agree with that, depending on what these addition conditions are," she frowned "Will you be going as a guy again?"

Ranma shrugged "If I don't get hit by water on the way I'd say so, besides I'm not saying we go right now or even in the next few days, you just have to treat me when the times right," he finished with a smirk.

If he was lucky he could even tie in what these extra things would be with her training and she wouldn't even know it, and he'd get hit a whole lot less, which was always good and would maybe even make him a winner in a different way.

Looking back at Akanes face he saw her frowning at him "What? What's that look for?"

Akane sighed a little probably at his question "Nothing you just looked a little spaced out which isn't usually an expression on your face unless your at the dinner table," she ended her statement buy sticking her tongue out at him and making a face before turning around and leaving.

Ranma sat in the dojo alone, after a moment he proceeded to flip himself up and onto his head with his legs crossed above him and proceeded to meditate while waiting for Maki to return.

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In the kitchen of the Cat Café Cologne stirred fry pans and woks making up the orders for those interested in a late lunch. She cooked with half a mind on the dishes, knowing that years of practice would ensure that the food would be excellent no matter how absentminded she was.

While one part of her mind was on the food the majority of it was concentrating on the knotty problem that was Ranma Saotome. When she had stumbled across him and Akane earlier in the week she had been more worried then necessary mostly just out of shock at seeing the Tendo girl actually holding hands with a boy at all let alone Ranma who she frequently seemed to feel needed to go through extra toughening exercises by her hands.

Getting back to the café and talking to her many times great granddaughter she had explained that their short lived vacation was over and that they would once again be persuading Ranma to take his rightful place by Shampoo's side.

Cologne smiled a little at how happy Shampoo had been at being able to once again attempt to win the heart of her beloved and be with him the way an Amazon maiden should.

The only problem now was how to proceed. As determined as Shampoo was, determination alone wasn't going to get them very far. Ranma had demonstrated that he was willing to use his power to defend someone and even kill if it came to that, though he obviously didn't want to repeat the saga of Phoenix Mountain if it was avoidable.

There were always the Amazon books of lore though. They had used on Ranma a miniscule portion of the potions and other spells possible in the books. They even had charms and other precious magical items kept by herself for years that they could try.

But there was no point in trying something if it was not guaranteed to work. Sighing she expertly dished the noodles, vegetables and other requested foods out and rang the bell for Shampoo to pick them up.

The thought crossed her mind that maybe they were looking at things too short term, that maybe something more long term was needed. She still had a plethora of moves up her sleeves that the Amazons taught only a rare few that he would be more the eager for.

But that would most likely only keep him interested and delay things long enough for her to flesh out one of the many idea's she had floating around.

She grinned, that would do just fine, and all she needed was some more time after all. After all as worrying as the other day's scene had been, it was doubtful things had processed any further between the two scions of the Anything Goes School. It could almost be expected actually that the boy would stick his foot in his mouth five minutes later as usual.

Those two would take even longer then her scheme needed for them to get in gear, as unlikely as that was to ever happen, and by then it would already be too late for Shampoo's rivals.

Happy with her decisions and the plans in motion Cologne prepared to have Mouse clean the dishes in preparation for those wanting dinner later on while Shampoo closed the door after their last afternoon customers.

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He who was the bane of Ranma Saotome, he who had traveled all over the globe in the search for he who had caused this life of hell to be, he known as Ryoga the lost boy sat down on a park bench and rested for a moment.

Taking a look around Ryoga was happy to see that he was still in Japan though he couldn't tell where. He had left Nerima satisfied that the hell that would have been inflicted on Akane Tendo by her marriage to Ranma had been averted though feeling pretty bad about how busted up things were as well as the fact that Ranma had saved him and the others in China.

Ryoga hadn't thought about the wedding or China for the current duration of this trip and it was probably about time that he did, _After all it wouldn't do for it to seem like I was trying to run away from it _he thought shaking his head as he did so.

First off in China Ranma had saved all of them at a great risk to himself. Now while that didn't make up for all the pain and suffering Ryoga had, had to go through it did count for something. After all they were both martial artists and these things had to be carefully weighed and all that sort of thing.

He felt relief at being able to simplify things so well in this situation. The only other thing was that while he had saved Akane's life in China that didn't make up for all the bad things he did to her or all the insults but it did take a little bit off it.

Now what these things meant that while Ranma should still be punished for what he had done to himself and to Akane he would probably be able to agree with something with Ranma. After all a martial artists needed a rival to get better!

Happy with what he had decided Ryoga set off from his bench in what he thought was the general direction of Nerima which was in fact the opposite way at least until he was almost run down by a car, mauled and chewed on for a bit by a dog which resulted in him being turned around in the right direction.

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It was a late afternoon still that same Saturday and Ranma was in the dojo. Laid out before him were his exercise books from school and he was going through the homework he had due on Monday. The dojo was quite almost all the time and he had found lately almost a perfect place to study what he had to.

Weather that was martial arts or algebra though, well only he knew. Rolling his shoulders up towards his neck and down again Ranma sighed, _Just because its better to do this stuff in here still doesn't make it better or easier then it really is _he lay thinking.

He'd been in the dojo for a while now having finished his conversation with Akane and his discussion and continued sparring with Maki some time ago, one of the doors was open and letting in the summer air.

As far as he knew Akane was in her room studying and Maki was out in the market doing what he termed "A bit of exercise and a breath of fresh air," Ranma grinned in remembrance.

He turned over onto his back, taking a momentary break from study, and closed his eyes letting his mind drift will relaxing and tensing his body to stretch it with minimal effort. After a few moments and having stretched to his satisfaction he opened his eyes and looked over to the door as he sensed someone coming down the path to the dojo.

Nodding in satisfaction at his correct guess as to who it was as Akane appeared in the doorway he stood up from the floor and walked over towards the door.

"You want to do some training or something Akane?" He asked her, half seriously considering the idea and then dismissing it, after all she wasn't wearing a gi. He became a little wary as she suddenly frowned "No actually Ranma though what I have to say has some bearing on training," she took a deep breath as Ranma kept wisely silent.

"I'd like to take you up on your offer to train me," Akane gulped out. Ranma nodded slowly, _I was pretty sure she'd take me up on it, from curiosity if nothing else. _

Walking back towards the middle of the room where all his things were he began to tidy up and gather his things. Turning to her while he did so Ranma asked Akane "How about we start now with some basics?" He asked her while she stood there in the doorway.

"Basics?" She motioned towards herself and the floral print dress she was wearing. "But I'm not in a gi, I'll have to go change if you want to do that."

Ranma stood up books in hand and walked over towards the doorway "No you don't need to do that, these are some mental basics as apposed to the usual physical ones," he finished smirking.

"You up for it?" he pressed. Shrugging Akane answered him "Ok then if that's all it is, I'm 'up for it'," copying the way he had asked her."

He grinned and put his books over near the door he walked back over to the middle of the dojo and mentioned for her to join him there. With an expression of curiosity on her face she walked over and joined him and copied him as sat down in a lotus position.

Ranma waited for her to finish arranging her dress to her satisfaction before he began in the most teacherish tone he could manage. "Alright, this is exercise to clear your mind of anger and other emotions that might distract you while in a fight or any other situation. One of the problems you have Akane is that your anger gets in the way with some of your opponents."

Ranma paused while Akane frowned and waited for her to nod before he took a deep breath and forged ahead "Now while I'll have to work on some of your other basics and techniques I want you to have control of your anger first."

When she didn't interrupt he continued "Whenever you fight against me or sometimes Pop you get real angry at the insults he uses or I use. But you've got to realize this is Anything Goes, which means that includes using insults as a way to put others off and get an opening."

Ranma kept silent about the times his old man had used Akane as a distraction and hit him into the Tendo's Koi pond. "This technique while letting you clear you mind of emotions also lets you focus whatever emotion you choose and a couple of other perks, but that'll come up later."

Akane jumped into the pause with a question "That's what you do with your Moko Tsubisha isn't it? Will I be able to do something like that eventually?"

Ranma shrugged and replied "Yeah it's the same sort of thing, only time and training will tell if you can do the same sort of technique, or a Tendo branch one. The other reason is maybe this way you'll stop hitting me so much for things that aren't my fault," he finished frowning a little.

Akane laughed "Yes I suppose I can understand that, but as far as I know I've never hit you when you didn't deserve and not apologized afterwards," Akane was still grinning at him and he smiled back infected by it.

"Be that as it may, hopefully I can avoid the first part altogether, anyway its time we started on this. Make sure your comfortable and you should also remember that you might not get it first go." Privately Ranma doubted she wouldn't get the basic part of it right away, _After all her father would have taught her some mind clearing exercises._

Ranma waited for Akane to settle herself and when she nodded he began. "Now empty you mind of everything. It should just be black empty space. Now in that space I want you to imagine a flame, you can make it any colour you want just don't make it anything complicated. It can being a single flame, a fire or a big fire, I find that a single flame is best."

Akane nodded her understanding while her eyes were closed and he continued. "Now hold that single flame in your mind and I want you to push all of your emotions, feelings, desires, all of it, into that flame and burn them away until all that is left is an empty space with nothing but the flame, not thinking of anything."

Her brow had become creased with concentration on the task before while Ranma watched. Happy that she had done at least that he started talking again "Now I want you to push down the flame until its extinguished and there is nothing but empty space within a void and hold yourself within that space with everything else outside."

Akane's brow creased again and a small amount of sweat appeared or her forehead. Ranma thought back to when he had first been learning how to do this. His father had just defeated one of the many martial artists they encountered and had been singed by a chi attack.

Walking down the road his Pop had turned to him and said "Son it's time for me to teach you how to use chi attacks," they had then proceeded into a forest where Ranma had spent days and nights eating, fishing, gathering food and practicing over and over the strange technique his father had taught him while around him the forest nearly drove him mad with distractions.

He hadn't realized till much later on their journey the purpose behind Genma's choice of training location. But he had pushed the thought aside and concentrated on the next thing to learn from his not yet man-panda father.

The thought came back to him that he had mastered the technique probably quicker then Akane would because of the distractions, but that could be changed easily, and would in fact be changed.

He grinned at the thought and at Akane as her brow uncreased as smoothed out. He spoke up after letting her sit there for a few moments "Ok Akane, I want you to open your eyes and stay within that empty space."

She opened her eyes and to Ranma they seemed a tiny bit cooler then their usual warmth. That alone told him that she had succeed so far and he nodded to him self in satisfaction.

"Alright, let go of the void Akane," Ranma watched as she blinked and her eyes changed slightly back, he asked her as she sat there "So, how did it go? Was it hard?"

Akane shook her head a little in what seemed an effort to clear it "That was a lot harder then the stuff Dad taught me for clearing my mind. I know you said there's more to it that'll we'll cover but is that what you do to get there?"

Ranma nodded "Yep, but I'll tell you what the real challenge is," he grinned at her "You should be good enough to get to the void straight away without going through all that other stuff in an instant if you want to get the most benefit out of it."

He continued to grin as Akane gaped "Instantly!?" Smiling he nodded. A thoughtful expression came over her face "Your right I'll have to practice that one."

The thought crossed his mind _Should I tell her what I want her to do now or wait later? _No, he'd do it now, while she was a little tired and less likely to hit him one.

Taking a deep breath he prepared himself for the worst that could come "Akane," she looked up at his tone "I'm going to name the other condition as part of our bet." Holding up his hands be began ticking of each point as he said it "You must not hit, kick, hurt, maim or incapacitate me in any way for the next two weeks no matter what I say or do if what your going to do is motivated by anger."

He finished and prepared to try and dodge whatever she unleashed at him. He blinked in surprise and watched curiously as Akane's eyes widened slightly before returning to normal and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

She looked up at him "This is going to part of my training isn't it Ranma?" She smiled happily as he nodded his head and he smiled back at her.

"Mostly yes, hopefully be the end of that time, you'll have learned how to empty your mind in an instant no matter what's going on," Ranma walked over to the side of the dojo towards the door and his books.

"We may as well finish here for now as we'll have dinner in a couple of hours," he bent down and picked up his books "You can practice that whenever you want really." Turning around he waited while Akane stood up and brushed away at the dress before joining him at the door.

Exiting the dojo Ranma closed it behind them again and they walked into the house proper together, a little apart from one another.

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Dusk had settled over the town as Ranma lay on has usual spot of the roof of the Tendo house. The horizon was only tinged slightly with deep orange and red and they reflected off the small clouds that scudded along the deep blue and purple sky.

Overhead the brightest stars had come out and twinkled their cold blue light down upon the world uncaringly but still beautiful in their coldness.

Ranma lay and admired without thinking of what he saw in the night sky, his mind was on the days earlier events. He was happy things had started well, he'd been able to get Akane started on a fairly important basic that would really start to matter a while down the track.

The only thing he would have to watch was making sure that when he tried to get Akane angry, the only thing he did was get her angry. That way she could concentrate on just fixing her anger problem as apposed to getting upset and going after him anyway. The right balance would be hard to find, _Almost when I first did my balance training_, he thought wistfully.

Things were looking up though, he had been visiting his mother more and she was happy about that which combined with how things were going with everything else meant things were going well.

The problem was though he still hadn't sorting everything out. He still had all his fiancés to deal with, including Akane. He hadn't come up with anything concrete yet and he knew that it was only a matter of time. In fact he was overdue at least for a bike to the body collision from Shampoo and a dose of powder from Kodachi.

He'd see if he could find Ukyo on Monday though and maybe see how she was. After all she was his oldest friend. Sighing Ranma stretched out and decided to stop thinking, he couldn't be bothered right now tomorrow would be soon enough.

With his decision made Ranma Saotome lay out on the roof and watched the sun sink below the horizon and the dark sky of the night come alive with the burning stars of the Milky Way.

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AN: Well guys let me know what you think :) this is the longest chapter so far but I hope you all enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next chapters and for the updated versions of these chapters.


	11. Chapter 10 Wisdom

To all my readers out there, if I even have any left heh, I apologize profusely. I've had an insanely busy year and so only now gotten the chance to get this thing going again and I plan to do much better in the future with chapters coming out regularly/ I was worried that this chapter was too short, which it is, so I kept trying to think of ways to extended it but I realized I was better off ending it where it was and starting the next arc in a new chapter.

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 10 – Wisdom

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Sunday had passed quietly for Ranma, he spent the morning talking to his mother and was glad he hadn't been on the receiving end of any "Ranma prepare to die attacks," and bike attacks or an episode of the Black Rose.

These were all good things in Ranma's mind. But put together they also made him very nervous with anticipation. It had been more then long enough for the martial artists of Nerima who routinely sought him out to fight him to come along a start something.

Ryoga was probably just lost and Kodachi's absence could be explained by a possible gymnastics competition somewhere out of the prefecture but even that wasn't certain. With that in mind Ranma had decided to visit the Doctor Tofu and ask his advice.

"So Doc, what do you think about this?" Ranma asked as he and Tofu sat in the waiting room of the doctors office, Sundays were a slow day for the clinic and it was only open for a few hours.

Tofu sipped from his cup and paused to reply, "I believe that it depends on weather or not you want to know about what the others are doing. You probably want to know about some of them so you can see how they are doing and maybe spar with them."

Lowering his cup to the table. Tofu continued "You should probably talk to them and see how they are. You said that you hadn't seen Ukyo around at school much and that you haven't seen Shampoo at all, so it may be a good idea to pay them both a quiet visit."

Ranma replied "I was thinking of seeing if Ukyo was in tomorrow and I'll figure out some time to go and check on Shampoo and the old hag," he finished grinning.

Tofu nodded in agreement and then shook his head to himself at his naming of Cologne and smiled ruefully. Tofu watched as Ranma set his cup down on the table and stood up.

"Well thanks for talking with me Doc, I've got to head back home now and do a couple of things so I'll see you around," Ranma walked over to the front entrance and put his shoes on.

The doctor put down his cup and walked over to the door. After saying goodbye to the teenager Tofu slid the door closed and went back to the table with his half full cup of tea. He sat down at the table. He hadn't wanted to burden Ranma but if the Amazons were being quite for this long it was almost certain that they were planning something that would be aimed at changing the current status quo. It would probably be a good idea to meditate on what ramifications could occur.

Having made up his mind Tofu closed his eyes and began the deep breathing of meditation, hoping to find something behind closed eyelids and darkness.

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Ranma was meditating too. Though for entirely different reasons and in a different way. After leaving the clinic Ranma had gone back to the Tendo dojo and realized that he should probably refresh his memory about the training his father had used with him to firm up his grip on instantly clearing his mind.

So he had taken up his favorite meditation position, his legs crossed and meditating on his head, in the middle of the dojo and was considering all the various possibilities of what those around him could be doing. The last time he had seen them had been at the botched wedding, a slight grimace crossed his face as he remember and Ranma once again cleared his mind. He couldn't quite remember what it was that the guests had all done except for a few explosions, which probably involved Shampoo or Ukyo, and some broken walls and furniture, which pointed most likely to Ryoga and Moose.

The damage had been repaired but everyone else had been off elsewhere since. A frown creased Ranma's brow, things were getting more complicated then he liked in these sorts of things. First thing would be to talk to Ukyo, as she was the best and longest friend of the lot, and see how she was.

It was around mid afternoon and Ranma wanted to actually do something, as much as meditation could clear your mind it still wasn't very strenuous Ranma felt. Getting up from the floor of the dojo he dusted his pants off a little and stretching up to get the kinks out Ranma started his warm up exercises and stretches in preparation for some kata practice.

His stretching finished he began to work through the kata's of the Anything Goes style, from the basic beginners kata's all the way through to the dan kata's and upwards. He paid exquisite attention to the forms, his fist striking or his arm blocking at the correct place and time. Upper block, middle punch, lower block, upper kick, the moves flowed through him without him having to think about them his muscles having memorized them during his fathers training.

Winding down from his final kata Ranma looked around and found the dojo to still be empty, he smiled happily and moved onto his attacks, jumping up off the floor and kicking into the air before spinning and landing nimbly on the mat floor of the dojo. Throwing a set of almost Armagurikan speed punches to the left and right he moved on to some quick low and sternum level kicks. Ranma continued on avoiding any ki attacks, after all with the dojo newly restored he didn't want to put holes in it. Winding down from another set Ranma stopped in the middle of the room for a moment and sighed happily. He'd been left uninterrupted for the best part of 2 hours now and had gotten a decent workout from it.

Maki should be back sometime soon and he'd worked up a hunger from his exercise so with that decided Ranma left the dojo and headed over to the house hoping to coax something out of Kasumi. Having completed this task Ranma thanked Kasumi and left to go back outside again.

The sun was shining down out of a blue sky in with a few clouds puffed along. Ranma walked slowly across the green lawn and into the dojo.

"Hey Ranma." Ranma smiled and waved at Maki who was sitting on the edge of the dojo floor. Sitting down opposite Maki, Ranma returned the greeting "Hey Maki, how was the market?"

Maki shrugged "Same old same old, if you've been to one market you've been to them all." Ranma nodded smiling "Yep that sounds about right to me, so you up for some more technique sharing? I'd like to pick up some more stuff from your style if possible." Maki grinned back "Now's a good time for me, I'll probably be leaving tomorrow."

Ranma looked at him quizzedly "Why's that?" Maki shrugged "Its about time I moved on, I try not to spend to long in one place, not to mention on kind of on a journey remember? So the idea is to travel around much like how you said you and your father did before you came here." Maki smiled.

Ranma returned the smile "Yeah that was pretty good, I rather like knowing that I have a place to come back to with regular meals instead of always being on the move, never knowing where you would sleep or where your next meal would come from." He thought back to those days he'd spent with his Pop before dragging his mind back to the present as Maki started talking again.

"Well you have traveled for a while so yeah I can understand you not wanting to move around too much more." Stretching his arms above his head Maki stood up and walked outside onto the lawn in front of the dining room. Ranma followed him out and waited for him to continue talking, sitting down on the porch in the mean time.

Maki continued on while gazing around at the backyard of the house "I think I'll continue on down to the southern islands and see what I can pick up from the Okinawa's and then head back up north to finish things off." Ranma leaned back with his arms behind him propping him up, leaning back on the porch with his feet stretched out onto the lawn.

"Well I suppose we better get to it," Ranma announced standing up "If possible I'd like to practice your ki control techniques and see if I can get them down before you go off." Ranma started walking over too the dojo as Maki nodded in agreement and fell in beside him.

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Standing on the back porch again after they had spent the afternoon practicing ki control techniques Ranma and Maki prepared to say goodbye. Ranma looked up as Maki turned back to him from looking out across the garden and said to him "So, I'd like to thank you Ranma for letting me train with you," Maki bowed to him and Ranma stood up and bowed back and followed inside as Maki headed towards the front door.

Maki checked that his bag was at the front door and making sure it was still packed up for the journey ahead with no lose ends he put on his shoes leaving the house shoes the Tendo's had lent him for his stay in their place. Turning around and picking up his bag and bowed to Ranma who bowed back smiling.

"Farewell Ranma, I'm sure we shall see each other not long into the future," Maki also shook his hand as a final farewell and left through the front door closing it behind him. Ranma smiled, he was glad he had met Maki, there were so many different styles in the world of martial arts that meeting someone from a different school who could teach you new things was always a good thing.

Ranma wondered what they were going to have for dinner and with that thought headed out the back to keep practicing kata's while he waited for Akane to show up. She still wanted to learn more from him and he wanted to know if her control was getting better.

Stepping out into the backyard he took in the feeling of the sun, the wind and the crisp feel of the grass between his toes before he got down to business. Today was too nice a day not to spend outside.


	12. Chapter 11 Wit

AN: I've gone back through every chapter and fixed up some grammar and spelling problems, I've also added the small part in Chapter 10 where they actually go off to learn some skills so you may want to re-read from ¾'s through Chapter 10. Thanks a lot for your reviews and questions guys.

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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 11 – Wit

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Ranma stood in the centre of the dojo, his hands were at his sides and his breathing was slow and steady. With his eyes closed Ranma went over the flows of his ki around and through his body practicing the techniques that Maki had taught him which would over time allow him to master manipulating his ki. He slowly gathered his ki in small parts and moved it to other parts of his body, feeling the energy wrap around his already present ki before he let his energy spread out balancing his ki again.

Maki had warned him that moving very large amounts of ki from vital parts of the body was extremely dangerous and was only done in lines of last resort due to the damage and disruption such things could do to the body's natural balances. Ranma wasn't willing to release the ki externally yet due to possibly damaging the dojo. He'd rather do that in a less populous area where he didn't have to worry about things going wrong. For the moment though he had the manipulation down fairly well and had been able to add extra power to his kicks and punches as he carefully executed them, making sure not to let the ki release from within him.

He continued standing in the dojo occasionally moving an arm or a leg as he continued to practice moving energy into his extremities as if in preparation for a punch or kick. Finally finishing with practicing the movement of his ki to where he wanted it Ranma started to gather his ki and use the extra power it gave him to execute kicks and punches at the air. If he hadn't known he was doing it there would be nothing to give it away unless his opponent was someone like Happosai who was quite good at sensing ki movements but even then the amount of ki was so small as to be externally unnoticeable.

Using the technique at the same time as fighting was out of the question at the moment. If he went slowly he was able to move extra energy to the appropriate arm or leg before he executed and kick, punch, hit or block but using it at his normal speed as well as having to dodge attacks from an opponent at the same time wasn't something he'd be able to do just yet. Ranma continued for some time getting a bit better as time progressed before deciding to take a break. After all Maki had told him that it would take Maki himself quite a long time, namely years, of study and practice before he got anywhere close to proficient use of the technique.

Taking a break he sat down on the floor of the dojo and cleared his mind meditating and resting. Remaining like that Ranma opened his eyes and stood up. Finding the dojo to be less illuminated then earlier he glanced at the clock and was surprised to find it much later in the afternoon and for all intents now evening as the sun was going down. He'd been in the dojo for a few hours now without being interrupted, if nothing else he knew that was weird and needing investigation.

Ranma wasn't someone who would normally go looking for trouble but when no one had bothered him for that length of time something odd was definitely going on, though if nothing terribly annoying was happening he'd take a bath before dinner was ready. Walking into the house he identified the noise of the television which was playing the Kasumi's favourite show of that time slot, it was some soap opera he couldn't stand.

Continuing past Ranma collected a change of clothes from his room and went down to the bathroom to clean up after his afternoon exercising. Flipping the sign over on the bathroom door random entered the first room and undressing placed his clothes on the dirty pile before sliding open the second door. Ranma had finished washing himself and was enjoying the warm water of the bath as he sat in it allowing his muscles to relax and stretching his arms and legs out comfortably.

After he's judged himself to have spent enough time in the bath he got out and changed into his set of clean clothes. He thought about what he was going to do tomorrow at school. Hopefully he'd be able to track Ukyo down at lunch and find out why it was she was avoiding him so much, sure he could understand her being careful around him after what had happened at the wedding but that was two weeks ago now and something was definitely not quite right. Shampoo he was going to have to deal with later and probably in a different way but he wasn't going to do that tomorrow, one at a time was the best way to do things with those two.

Walking down the hallway and entering the kitchen Ranma smiled as he watched Kasumi deftly move around the area fixing up things here and there as she prepared another of her great meals for dinner. Somehow the thought of food made him think of Akane, though that was probably due to both the bad and good things she'd made him eat. He wondered what she was up to Ranma hadn't seen her around much this weekend, though he had been busy practicing. No doubt she was working on something for school or maybe if he was lucky she was practicing entering the void to calm her emotions. Ranma shrugged his thoughts away as he greeted Kasumi and got himself a glass of water.

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Akane was in fact in her room and as Ranma had semi guessed she was indeed practicing the mind clearing technique that Ranma had taught to her the day before. The first time she had tried it in the dojo had taken a lot of effort, much more so then she had thought for something that seemed so simple. _It really isn't easy to completely clear your mind of all your thoughts and emotions _she thought to herself. Thinking out loud she said to her room "I wonder if that why Ranma says such stupid things sometimes, he really doesn't have any thoughts going." She laughed a little at the idea and went back to practicing the technique. As she did another part of her mind played back the events of the days before.

After she'd confessed what she'd done to Ranma the other day she had felt much better about herself and even slightly encouraged about what he had said to her about understanding Anything Goes martial arts. Though the fact that he could still get her to promise to do certain things within reason still made her the slightest bit nervous, but then if he asked her to do anything perverted she could just refuse to and teach him a lesson in manners. She smiled slightly at the idea and then frowned in annoyance as her feelings of humour intruded upon the void she was attempting to form in her mind.

Finally clearing her mind of everything her mind hung suspended as thoughts and emotions crawled along the barrier of the void that pushed them out inside her mind. She sat there for a few moments suspended in nothingness before she allowed the void to collapse and her emotions filled it up again within her mind. Ranma had been right, the more she practiced the technique the less time it took for her to enter the void inside her mind. Earlier in the day she'd spent time hanging out with Yuka and Sayuri enjoying themselves at the mall and the arcade.

When she had returned she'd run into Maki who had been packing his things up just inside the house. Akane had asked him if he was leaving and said goodbye happily when he'd said yes and mentioned that he wanted a simple goodbye with each of the people he'd met. _He wasn't too bad a guy at least_ Akane thought to herself while getting off her bed and sitting down at her desk. She set out her books and started her homework wondering to herself how Ranma even managed to keep up with the class considering she never saw him doing any school work. He always handed in the work he had to do though which meant he had to have done it sometime. Akane dismissed the pigtailed martial artist from her mind so she could concentrate on the tasks at hand, after all it was only afternoon and she had plenty of time to do some work.

Time passed by with the ticking of her clocks and Akane continued to work turning on her bedroom light as the evening descended upon Nerima and dinnertime approached. Akane rested for a moment balancing a pen on her upper lip as she leaned back in her chair resting with her arms dangling in the air beside her. Replacing all four legs of the chair on the ground with a light thump Akane put the pen back on her desk and stretched extending her arms towards the roof and moving up on her tiptoes as she finished her stretch

Rocking back on her heels Akane decided a drink was in order. Her work had made her thirsty and dinner wouldn't be soon enough that grabbing something small to eat would be a problem. After all Kasumi would never stand for something like spoiling her appetite. Akane grinned as she thought back over the times that her eldest sister had told various members of the family off as well as the newest editions to the household. After all no one wanted to disappoint Kasumi.

Entering the kitchen Akane noticed Ranma standing there sipping from his own class of the self same liquid. She blinked in surprise as Ranma held up a second class full of water out towards her smiling slightly. She smiled back at him and took the glass from his hands "Thanks Ranma," she said and felt an almost electric jolt as their hands came into contact. She kept her eyes on the class making sure that no one could see her slight blush especially Ranma.

Looking up she noticed that Ranma was drinking from his glass of water and had turned back towards the sink. _Well at least I don't have to worry about him seeing me blush _she thought then chided herself _What does it matter what that idiot thinks of me_. After asking Kasumi when dinner would be she decided that now would be as good a time as any to practice a little and went and got changed into her gi and then headed downstairs and outside to the dojo. She hadn't heard or seen Ranma on her way so most likely he was in the dojo again.

She would have liked to have the place to herself but if he was there she might be able to train with him some more. She blushed a little at the idea then shook her head angrily at her reaction. It wasn't important, even though he had offered to help train her and she had accepted, it still didn't change anything, a small corner of her mind whispered _Not yet, _she ignored it and kept walking to up to the dojo's entrance.

Opening the door she found Ranma once again in his usual meditative position. That was to say sitting on his head with his legs crossed. She could never understand how he did that, it just didn't look like a comfortable position to be in no matter what you were doing let alone meditating. As she turned around from sliding the door shut she found Ranma had his eyes open and was looking at her.

Waving to him she replied to his unspoken question "I'm here for a bit of training, not necessarily from you if you don't want to, but to practice things myself." Ranma nodded and moved out of the way sitting up against one of the walls while she did her stretches in the centre of the dojo. Having completed that task she once again cleared her mind of everything as she had been practicing during the afternoon and entered the void within her mind.

_Now, lets see if I can actually practice like this_ she thought privately as she practiced basic blocks and punches. She continued like this for a little longer and moved into kata's, having forgotten he was in the room she was surprised to hear him say "Hey Akane you un-cute tomboy what exactly are you doing anyway?" he drawled insultingly. The void inside Akane's mind shattered and anger and annoyance replaced the black emptiness as she lost hold on her emotions.

Clenching a fist she turned and glared at Ranma who was still sitting up against the wall smiling a slightly though looking worried at the same time. "What exactly was that for?," she growled at him having halved the distance between them. She watched Ranma as he scratched the back of his head nonchalantly and replied "Well I wanted to see how well you could control your emotions and while it looks like you're not quite as likely to hit me as before which is nice." Akane watched Ranma nervously eye her clenched fist until she lowered it to her side and let out her breath in a huff.

Suddenly she remembered what they had talked about the day before, no wonder he wasn't as nervous. She had promised not to hit him for the next two weeks as a part of her training and as he had shown she still had a while to go before she could control her emotions. She wondered about the amount of time he'd set that she would have to endure his insults for. Maybe he thought that she could master the technique in that amount of time, or maybe he had some other reason for it. She put it out of her mind and relaxing her fingers she turned her back on Ranma and let out a "Hmmpf" of annoyance and walked back towards the centre of the dojo.

Taking up a practice stance again Akane started practicing block's, kicks and punches. She could feel Ranma's eyes on her but she ignored them while continuing her practice, eventually curiosity got the better of her and she turned around to look at him. He wasn't sitting down anymore but standing up against the wall watching her, he had a look on his face she was pretty sure she had never seen before, he looked thoughtful and a little curious about something. Cocking her head to one side and hands resting lightly on her hips she asked "What it is Ranma? You look like your thinking about something for once." She grinned at him happy with her delayed retort to his earlier insult, after all the promise mean she couldn't hit him in anger for anything she said that didn't mean she couldn't verbally abuse him instead of physically.

She watched as Ranma pushed himself off the wall and slowly walked his way over towards where she stood. She stood there holding her position as he slowly made his way over to her and stood in front of her. Watching his face she could see that he was still frowning in thought, it was a little weird really she had never seen Ranma look like that.

He stopped right in front of her and opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again still looking thoughtful. She moved her head the other way trying to prompt him to answer her, he seemed to get the hint and Ranma seemed to square himself up as if to face some sort of ordeal.

"I was watching you practice and looking at area's I could help you improve on with your training," he finally replied to her question as he started walking back and forth over one spot in front of her. She didn't interrupt him as he continued to speak after a few moments "There's nothing really wrong with your basics, they're pretty much how they are supposed to be with only one or two things wrong with them."

She waited patiently for him to continue not saying anything as he glanced at her nervously before moving on, seeing that she wasn't going to get angry, at least not straight away, he went on. "There are a few things I could help you with though, like aiming a strike at a particular area for a specific reason. After all it's fine to punch or kick someone but there should be some sort of reason behind it," he concluded a little pompously.

She couldn't hold it in anymore, she let out a laugh at the way he had said the last line. Akane watched him scratch the back of his head in slight confusion while he looked at her. She was wondering what he was thinking, after all it wasn't like Ranma to think like this, _But then again a little more then two weeks ago he'd defeated a demigod and then was almost married._ The last part she had mixed feelings about that was certain and she had almost no idea about what he'd felt about it considering his responses.

It seemed Ranma had been waiting for a reply or and explanation of her laugh so she gave him the former "So, what exactly did you have in mind? She asked him as he stopped pacing in front of her.

"Well I don't want to do too much tonight 'cos I've already had a bath today and I don't really want to take another one before dinner, and I don't think I have time to if I did want to anyway," he said the last part wryly while Ranma looked at her and she looked back. She nodded in response and waited, after all she had agreed to let him teach her it was hardly right for her to be choosy right now. She watched Ranma run his hands through his hair which had her wondering what he was thinking again, she gave a small start as he started speaking again.

"Basically I'm going to get you to slowly through punches at me or block punches I send your way and I'll correct your movements as you make them. By slowly I mean really slow as in we aren't really going to be hitting each other." She was a little disappointed by this, she'd been thinking that maybe he'd actually block some of her attacks instead of just dodging them like he always did but she brightened up at the idea of being able to perfect her strikes and blocks.

She shrugged her shoulders again before replying "It sounds ok to me, but if you do anything perverted I'll hit you nice and hard, not out of anger but out of moral justice!" She finished nodding her head firmly and grinning as he eyed seeming a little worried.

"Ok well that's fine…but not if I did something wrong by accident!" he exclaimed and she nodded in reply. She continued listening while Ranma explained what was going to happen. She would throw a punch or a kick very slowly and he would block it or guide her hand towards the proper location be it a pressure point or a natural weakness in the physical defences of the body.

Squaring off at a proper distance she moved forward a bit and slowly threw a punch towards his chest as Ranma blocked her hand she felt a small almost electric jolt as their skin touched before she felt the warmth of his skin. She looked away quickly a small blush on her face which disappeared after she mentally scolded herself, _What am I blushing for, there's nothing to be embarrassed about! _

After a little while her blush faded and she looked up, she didn't realise how close she was to Ranma even though it had just been a middle body punch. Ranma looked at her face and moved her arm slightly at the same time before he spoke. "Your aim was a little off Akane you want to hit your opponent right in the middle of the chest." She looked at her hand and saw he'd moved it so it was inline with the sternum but wasn't touching him.

She nodded and moved back into her ready position trying to focus a little more. She smiled inside when she remember the mental technique Ranma had her practicing and using it she cleared her mind a little more. After the first punch she had the basic idea of what Ranma was trying to do, each time their skin touched she was startled by the shared warmth her hand felt from Ranma's skin. Using the void meant she didn't react quite as badly as she had the first time and for this she was proud, it meant to her at least that she was getting better control of her emotions.

They continued like this for some time with Akane learning of various strategic weak spots that a fighter could exploit for his or her use. Most of them were bundles of nerves that would induce pain of differing levels or even knock a person out. Under the arm in the armpit was one such place, the obvious places such as the chin or temple as well as the floating rib and kidneys which were also sensitive areas.

The last few were explained while they sat on the dojo floor after finishing some more practice moves. While Akane hadn't quite worked out as much as she might have wanted to she had helpful information from Ranma and remembered old information her father had taught her back when he was a Sensei. It was surprising how much Ranma knew if it was related to martial arts she reflected while they were taking a break.

"I'd say its about time we finish up," she heard Ranma say and looking at him she saw he was looking at the clock on the wall. Following his gaze she nodded in agreement, she would have just enough time to have a bath before dinner was served. She looked over at Ranma "Thanks for the class Ranma," she smiled to show she was grateful and stood up.

Ranma got up beside her before replying "It's no problem, the opportunity came up so I thought I'd show you something now instead of later on." She felt something flutter inside her as he smiled back at her. Hoping to hide the slight blush on her face she turned her back to Ranma and headed over to the door, scolding herself again mentally for blushing at something as innocuous as a smile. She waited at the door for Ranma thankfully the cool evening breeze cooled down her slightly warm cheeks while she waited under the walkway.

Ranma turned the light in the dojo off and slid the door shut before they started walking off towards the main part of the house in a comfortable silence. Above them in the sky stars were brightly shining as they made their way inside.

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AN: Well there we go another chapter done, and faster then I expected. Hope you enjoy this one, and don't be afraid to leave a question or comment if you enjoying reading this chapter or even if you didn't. I enjoy hearing from any of my readers :)


	13. Chapter 12 Withdraw

Sorry for such long waits, I just have too much stuff going on right now. Thanks for your corrections Wes and for everyone else's reviews, I know theres more of you guys reading than reviewing so don't be shy, if you have question and you don't want to leave a review feel free to email me. That said our two favorite protagonists aren't moving along very quickly as Faisdodo has suggested but they aren't characters that develop emotionally with any speed – look at how long Ranma took to have feelings for Akane and say them out loud at Phoenix Mountain and then he denies them almost straight away.

I've been writing this story with a long term view so what with the Amazons and the rest of the Nerima crew running around still they have to be dealt with 1st before anything can happen at all with our other two, and don't forget this is based off the manga not the anime :)

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Disclaimer: I cant fly.

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Chapter 12 - Will

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Shampoo hummed to herself happily as she finished cleaning off a kitchen utensil in the sink out the back of the Cat Cafe. Tomorrow they would be open for business again and she would be able to say hello to her beloved. It had been two weeks since the wedding that she and the others had interrupted stopping her silly husband to be from marrying that stupid girl and then, before she knew it, her grandmother had said the very next day they had business they would have to take care of back in China. Now that she was finally back in the same town as Ranma she would have to make up for lost time and opportunities with her beloved. Moving onto the next item to be cleaned Shampoo continued to hum the simple tune from her homeland to herself while thoughts and plans were examined and discarded as they raced through her mind.

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Lying on the floor of his room Ranma was leafing through one of his newest manga's while trying to decide if he wanted to train a bit more before he went to bed or if he'd wait till tomorrow, after all they were still on holidays for the next couple of weeks before they started their final year of high school and Nabiki as well as the Blue Blunder of Furikan High had graduated the day before. At the beginning of the next school year Nabiki would be going off to college and they might even get a break from Kuno. Knowing him as he did though Ranma doubted that Kuno would be going anywhere, let alone a place conveniently far away from Nerima.

In around 3 weeks time he and Akane would be seniors at Furikan and they would have to decide which college to go to if they wanted to go to one when they were done at the end of the year. Thinking about things that far away gave Ranma a headache so he'd put them out of his thoughts as much as possible. The last two weeks of the year had actually been kind of pleasant without him getting jumped on by a crazy Chinese girl and her bike he'd been able to avoid being malleted into the wide blue yonder fairly successfully.

His thoughts drifted back to friday and Nabiki's graduation ceremony.

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The day had dawned mostly clear with some grey-white clouds making there way across a blue spring sky, the sun was warm but not hot and only added to the atmosphere of the event. Because thats what it was, an event. Soun had spent most of the morning crying his eyes out about his baby girl becoming all grown up throughout all of breakfast and even on the way to the high school. Nabiki glared at him and threatened to take all his money with her to university, Soun of course forgetting that she would never do that to her sisters finally got the point and shut up.

Ranma for the most part had wandered along pretty much at the back of the group because he knew that something was going to happen, and he wanted to get in as little trouble as possible when it came about and even so he knew that trying to do so was going to be impossible for him. He attracted trouble as often as he attracted cold water and that was well, every day since being cursed. The journey to the high school was strangely uneventful for the group and they filed into the gymnasium with the rest of the graduating students families and friends. Seats had been lined up in the same fashion as when an assembly was called by either the faculty or the pineapple wearing fruit they had for a principle.

Looking at the group of graduates and thinking about the size of the student body about to finish their high school lives Ranma realised that the process of receiving the diploma's would probably take quite a while and he slipped into a light meditative trance, making sure to keep his eyes open. Stretching his Ki out into the surrounding area he felt for anything out of place or amiss that shouldn't be there, sensing nothing for the time being he removed himself from the trance but left his Ki extended so that it would alert him of anything untoward.

True to his prediction the process going on in front of him was lengthy due in most part to the number of graduates. Each would get up as their name was called walk up the steps closest to them at the end of the stage and receive their diploma from the vice principle, their actual principle being off on some craze or another, only the Kami's knew where, the student when then bow to the vice principle and walk off the stage with their diploma in hand.

The family of the graduating member of the student body would course would take pictures during this entire process and then hug their newly graduated child, some with more emotion than others but that's just how they were. Ranma waited for Nabiki to come out on stage with the rest of the family and around halfway through the procession he spotted her as she made her way across the stage after having her name called. Soun was taking photo's with an old looking camera while he tried not to get any of the tears that were cascading down his face on the camera, it looked like he was struggling a bit with the task.

Ranma smiled to himself at the happiness of the Tendo's and even Akane seemed happy enough to give him a small smile which he returned, keeping the worry he felt about the next year out of his eyes. The new school year hadn't yet begun but school wasn't the only thing on his mind these days, he had too much to do and too little time. For once in a little while though he decided he could go along with this and let Nabiki enjoy her time in the spotlight before she had to go, after all he'd miss her too. She was like a sister, an annoying sister who charged large sums of cash for any and all services, but still sort of like a sister to him. After all there were only so many times you could rescue someone from impossible situations and not feel some sort of connection wasn't there?

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Ranma's thoughts snapped back to the present. He'd resolved to track down Ukyo tomorrow and find out why she'd been avoiding him for the last couple of weeks, he would head over to her restaurant and see if she was there. He'd forgiven her already but he wanted an apology for what she'd done to him and maybe the Tendo's and maybe some money for the Tendo's for repairs wouldn't go astray either considering how much it was costing them to let him and his pop live there. That said his old man was as much to blame for the damage as was Soun and the rest of the gatecrashing gang.

Ranma rolled onto his back and gazed up at the ceiling following its patterns with his eyes and continued to think about his situation. Shampoo was the one who usually got him in trouble the most so he'd been quite happy for the last couple of weeks at her absence knowing that it couldn't last for much longer. He knew quite well what she was capable of doing with her having threatened Akane's doll form while they were at Jusenkyo to try and get him to do what she wanted. She might have been under someone else's control at the time but that didn't change what she was capable of. He would just have to deal with her when the time came, which knowing her would probably be every single day.

Ranma sighed and decided he had been thinking entirely too much over the last couple of weeks, not that events hadn't warranted it he just preferred the instinctual movements of the art where one only had to think about counters, blocks, kicks and punches and if you were good enough you didn't have to think about those things at all as they would flow naturally from his muscle memory. He turned back on his stomach and began reading his manga again having decided that thinking was better left to times when the sun was up instead of during the darkness of the night.

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The next day the sun was shining brighting across Nerima as the adults of the town got ready to head off to work. While their children might be on a break that didn't mean that anyone else was as lucky. Parents all over the town thought back wistfully to their summer vacations over the years, the fun times, the bad times, the adventures of their teenage years that they thought would never run out. As they looked over at their children, those who were awake, or at where their children slept in the case of most, eye's would mist over a little at the thought that soon enough the next generation would be going through the same thing that they had, they would be growing up, going to university, getting a job. Doing all those adult things that only came along when those endless summers and the long days of being a teen that never seemed to end finally did end sometimes in painful realizations but for most of them it would be a gradual thing as each young adult looked back over their own lives and what they had accomplished so far.

In a grassy back yard however those thoughts were being avoided as much as possible as one Ranma Saotome ran through his advanced kata's as a warm up exercise. While he had plans to track down Ukyo and find out what the problem was Ranma had also realised recently that he was coming to a sort of plateau in his skills and that just wouldn't do. He could beat his father in almost all the spars that they had and at the moment Genma wasn't interested in teaching him any of the sealed techniques so that left self improvement and development of the style of Anything Goes. Ryoga was a good sparring partner but Ranma needed something that would drive him to reach the next level of skills.

The weapons of the Phoenix Tribe had given him an idea though, with the ability to affect the elements so much he'd been able to change cold to hot or hot to cold as he wished while he fought with Saffron he thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to effect the air temperature around his body with his Ki alone. The Hiryu Shoten Ha worked on the basis of conflicting elements of Ki but that was Ki alone and not a physical manifestation of it. Ranma finished he cool down stretches as he thought through the problem at hand.

He had to find a way to manipulate his Ki so that not only was it hot or cold as he wanted but that it manifested itself physically as well as elementally. Jumping up onto the roof in an easy bound Ranma sat down and wondered if he was at the level of manipulation that he'd need for something like this. Not only did he have to physically manifest his Ki he had to do so constantly and in a thin layer around his entire body. That was a lot of Ki to output over the course of an entire day, and unless he found the right way to do it anyone who had the ability to sense Ki that was close by would be able to find him without too much trouble. Though he could always use the unsealed part of the Umi Sen Ken to hide if need be.

Assuming the lotus position as he sat on the roof of the Tendo household in the early hours of the morning Ranma watched the sun slowly rise higher into the sky and contemplated his intriguing idea of a Jusenkyo cure. He could ask Happosai for tips he supposed but that path always seemed to end up with him doing something disturbing or degrading so he could get any help. Cologne was a no go at the moment as well, he was staying out of that lots way for as long as possible, he was still unhappy with them a little bit for everything that had happened and their lack of gratitude. It was a martial artists duty to protect the weak after all and so he had rescued Shampoo but the lack of thanks had annoyed him a bit not to mention her unappreciated advances.

Maybe he could ask Soun he'd trained as an apprentice with his father with Happosai after all so he might have some tips that he could use and if that didn't work... He was pretty sure there was a temple nearby that he could ask for help from...maybe that same one that had helped with the Ghost C-C-Cat, his mind stuttered over the thought of that terrible animal and a small shudder went down his spine. It was still too early for Soun to be up but Kasumi would be up soon to start the morning breakfast, he's probably head down there to help her, while he waited for the rest of the house to start waking up Ranma closed his eyes and entered into a trance in which he could feel his Ki flowing throughout his body. It moved calmly around his body traveling through all the proper channels and points that kept his body in balance and harmony with itself, as Ranma felt it circulate through his body he took a hold of his Ki and attempted to move it outside his body in a small layer. Starting with something small he took it and pushed it around his hand allowing a small amount to coat his hand.

As he opened his eyes making sure to stay within the trance he moved the hand up in front of his face and noticed it glowing softly with a pale gold light the Ki itself however was neither hot nor cold and sat there as he concentrated. With that he took a look at the position of the sun in the morning blue sky and extending his senses slight found that Kasumi was awake and was starting to make her way downstairs to the kitchen. Ranma let himself slip out of his trance and stood up and stretched a little his interest had been piqued by his experiment. All he'd really done was use the same application as when he or any other martial artist flared their battle aura but he had been able to localize it to just one part of his body instead of having it wildly flare out around him and really the only way he could use what he'd done just then was if he was stuck somewhere dark and had no light available to him. But still, it was something, where before it had been only an idea and Ranma was happy that there was a possibility that his idea might just have some merit. If nothing else all the exercises he'd have to undertake to properly manipulate his Ki would build it up and maybe finally allow him mastery of it.

Jumping down into the backyard as Kasumi made her way through the dining room and into the Kitchen Ranma made is way past the engawa and into the same room Kasumi had just vacated before following after her. Kasumi turned around as he entered her curiosity about who was up as early as she shown on her face before a small smile blossomed as she saw Ranma enter a small smile evident on his own face. Kasumi broke the silence first asking him the obvious question "So Ranma, have you come to help with breakfast?" as she turned back to her instruments of culinary delight.

Ranma nodded before he realised that with her back turned she wouldn't be able to see it "Yeah, I thought you'd like a hand again, you do a lot around here after all so I thought I should help you out or something." Ranma moved further into the kitchen and asked "So what would you like me to do?" Kasumi smiled happy to have someone to talk to while she worked and directed him "If you could get the rice ready first that would be fine, I'll work on the vegetables while you do that," while the sound of the knife on the chopping board continued on soft and steady as she continued without stopping, no motion wasted.

Making sure that the rice cooker was set properly Ranma got everything together and let the machine do it's thing while he chatted to Kasumi about recipes, variations of recipes and every day things that Kasumi seemed to never get the chance to talk about. Ranma didn't do this very often but it was one of ways in which he liked to pay Kasumi back for the things she'd done over the last few years, like feeding him and his free loading fat half time panda Pop who seemed to always be making things difficult for everyone.

As the sun climbed higher into the sky and the town of Nerima went about its everyday business or its newly re-opened business things were stirring that would put Ranma in many difficult positions in the distant and not to distant future, oblivious to all this he continued to chat to Kasumi with half his mind on what he could ask Soun about specifically when it came to his Ki manipulation as soon as the man was up.


	14. Chapter 13 Wrinkle

Disclaimer: Danger, danger. High voltage. When we touch, when we kiss!

NB: Sorry about the double alert, had to redo my breaks as remove them.

Chapter 13 - Wrinkle

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The problem Ranma reflected was that the people he was asking for tips on _ki _manipulation for the most part were only adepts like he was or had fallen so out of practice much like Soun Tendo had that they could only use their _ki_ for the most basic of things such as Soun's infamous demon head attack. What Ranma really needed for his plan was a master. Someone who had many years, maybe even a lifetime, of practice with the energy of life and the elements. One of his other problems was that the only two masters he knew of were Cologne and Happousai, one of which he wanted to avoid just due to the sheer unpleasantness of being near the man let alone asking him for help and the other he wanted to avoid as much contact as posible with so that the current fiance situation didn't deteriorate any further than it had already.

With those two in his mind out of the running as candidates for assistance with his current dilemma's he would have to look further afield to places like temples with a long history or possibly demon hunter group's headquarters. This of course let rise to another set of problems, first he had to find a temple with a _ki_ master who would be able and willing to assist him and one whose temple hadn't been screwed over in the past by his fat free loading father. The demon hunters he wasn't too sure on either as he was fairly certain they were using magic and not _ki _to take out their quarry. It didn't really make much sense in his mind at least to go around throwing life force energy at a demon, which absorbed life energy for the most part, as a way of exterminating them.

On top of all these problems of course was the main issue that Ranma faced. Time. Time was his biggest enemy in this fight. Most of the masters in _ki_ in the world had been studying for decades in order to gain their current levels of mastery over their own bodies and the energy of the world around them. He didn't have years though. In fact he was fairly certain he didnt even have weeks or many days left let alone a few months of a year. Even if he trained for most of the day for the rest of the holidays before they went back to Furikan he would still most likely not be anywhere near as progressed as he needed to be. That said though there wasn't much that motivated Ranma to succeed more than a fight with the odds stacked heavily against him.

Just because the whole mess he was in now through mostly but not entirely no fault of his own wasn't a fight between him and another martial artist didn't mean that he couldn't think of it like he would when trying to take down an opponent. It also helped that he was feeling a bit better about the whole situation now that he had talked to Ukyo, that had been a conversation that he hadn't been looking forward to, but thinking back about it he was glad he hadn't delayed doing so.

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The bell rang with a slight tinkle as Ranma pushed open the door and entered into Ucchan's to have a conversation he'd been putting off with the proprietor. He heard Ukyo start her normal 'Welcome to Ucchan's' spiel before she finished raising her head to look at her next customer and noticed who it was. The rest of her usual greeting petered off and worry seemed to flash in her eyes before she seemed to take a hold of herself and look at him directly.

Ranma having finished walking up to the bar that ran alongside the grill sat down on the stool in front of the chef and kept his eyes directly on her. His uncertainty at being able to handle the conversation that was about to eventuate was a hard knot in his stomach and he had to take a hold of himself and almost assumed the void in order to calm his nerves. Looking directly at her he noticed that Ukyo seemed to have some trouble meeting his eyes, maybe she felt a bit more guilty than he had originally thought?

Breaking the silence first Ranma stated "Hiya Ukyo, I thought I should come by some time and talk to you about what happened the other day." The lack of nickname seemed to startle her for a moment before a small fire lit itself in her eyes as she glared at him.

"What happened? Well as far as I'm concerned all I did was prevent someone stealing my fiancé!" She belted out at him as he presented a calm outer face to her. She coloured slightly in embarrassment under his gaze at the outburst, and quickly glanced around her store to make sure no one had been interrupted. "I mean, I didn't really think everyone else was going to turn up as well, but I guess these sorts of things just follow you around don't they Ran-chan? Not to mention I hadn't seen you since you ran off to China to do Kami knows what without so much as a word my way?"

Ranma had to concede the last point, he hadn't exactly had time to pass the information on though what with how quick things had gotten out of hand he still had his point to make though "Yeah, that's all well and good, but I still don't see how that justify's you going against the code of the martial artist, or do you not even bother with the Bushido?" His tone was slightly harsh and a little bit sarcastic, but that was probably the only way he was going to be able to get her to think about this. Once she stopped gaping at him like a fish anyway.

"Bu-bu-but," was all she stuttered out before her knuckles tightened around her spatula handles in anger "Where the hell do you get off lecturing me on Bushido? Huh? I've always followed the code of martial arts! I've sacrificed most of my life living as a man just so I could reclaim my honour from you two!" She looked like she was ready to blow at any moment though he stopped her from going further with only a sentence.

"If it is so important to you what were you doing in the dojo with those explosives?" He sat, waiting for an answer, while her mouth kept opening and closing with no words exiting it. Seeing if he could possible drive his point home a little more strongly he continued "There were plenty of non-combatants in there and between you and Shampoo you could have brought the entire dojo down on everyone! You could have killed the priest! A man of the Kami! Did you even bother to think that you could have possibly found out what was going on before you blew the place up? How do you even know me and Akane weren't being forced into the marriage?" His questions flew thick and fast, keeping her off balance and unable to properly formulate a reply.

He wasn't entirely sure, being no expert himself on the emotions of others, but it looked like she had felt guilty about the act at least subconsciously and that had been part of why she hadn't called him out on his avoidance of her café. The tears that were slowly building in her eyes might have also been a hint as well. Ranma sighed while keeping his eyes on her "I'm sorry Ukyo, I didn't mean to upset you like this, but I needed to point this out to you. I don't know if you've even thought about this yourself but what you did caused a lot of damage, put a lot of people in danger and caused me to question your judgement, how can I ask you to help me in the future if I cant trust you not to fly off the handle like that again?" He finished up his argument while still looking her in the eyes.

Ukyo had gone completely still while listening to him it seemed, almost not even daring to breathe as if she feared the next words out of his mouth would be unbearable for her. As he finished though she seemed to loosen up and even smiled at him timidly. "I guess I can understand where you're coming from then Ran-chan. Especially if you want my help, after all I'm one of the best around," she finished off with a wink at him. Ranma in turn gave her a small smile "Well I'm glad we had this talk then."

She seemed to frown at the abrupt end of the conversation and said "Are you leaving already? You're not even going to get something to eat?" Ranma stood up from the stool and pushed back from the grill. "I've gotta get going, I missed a fair bit of class so Hinako is helping me make up for it," which while not being completely false had enough truth in it that he was comfortable with the partial lie unlike his usual difficulty.

"Well come back again soon will you hon? I still want to hear about your latest adventure and everything, if the tales as good as I think it'll be I'll even through in a freebie." Ukyo seemed to rally obviously knowing that one of the easiest ways to get through to Ranma was through his mouth. He smirked back at her "Sure thing, I'll be sure to tell you all about it," the bell rang above his head as he opened and shut the door to restaurant.

The problem he mused as he walked away was that regardless of what she'd just said he couldn't trust his old best friend without her having ulterior motives, her attitude just gave her away even to him, as blind as he was to these things. Not that he could blame her for that; it was just going to make everything more difficult when the time came.

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Ranma couldn't believe how long he'd managed to pull his subterfuge off for. Of course with his lack of education he didn't really think of it like or even use words that were close to that effect, but the spirit was there. He was in one of his newest favourite places in Nerima, the Shakujin Park. The park was huge taking up around 20 hectares of land and was well known for its birdlife and ponds. The place Ranma was really interested in though was the Sanpoji Temple which was a little east of the Ikefuchi Historical Park. The temple was around 700 years old and had a collection of monks who had been able to help him in his quest for mastery over his inner energies.

Funnily enough it had been Kasumi who had been able to help him with his quest when she noticed him looking over tourist brochures for the area in a search for information on the local temples. She'd told him there was an old temple in the Shakujin park that had been moved there many generations ago and that as child she and her parents and been past it on their walks through the large park. Ranma had considered it for a while, matching it up against the criteria for age as well as the fact that there wasn't many other options and decided to check it out and now a couple of weeks later he was still able to get there undetected. At least as far as he could tell.

He strolled through the park taking in the sounds of the birds and watching the summer breeze move through the trees overhead while others in the park hired paddle boats to transverse the large Shakujii pond or looked at the Azaleas scattered over the grounds. The park was always open all year round and drew many avid bird watchers who enjoyed watching the exuberant number of waterfowl and other bird life.

In the distance he could see the Shakujii castle over the tops of the green leafy trees as he approached the Tora on the path to the temple. He made his way up the short set of steps and bowed at the entrance before heading over to the main shrine to pay his brief respects as a practitioner in his own of Bushido, not to mention after all the supernatural and wacky stuff he'd had thrown his way some preyers certainly could help. Having completed his message and finishing of with two bows and claps he turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin as he came face to face with the old man in charge of the shrine.

"Sheesh old man! What have I told you about sneaking up on me like that! Ya gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." The old man in question didn't seem to phased by the outburst though and simply smiled before replying "Well, maybe if you were more in tune with the world around you, you might have sensed my person approach you."

Ranma just grumbled under his breath and stepped to the side of the priest making sure to be a step behind the old man as they walked away from the shrine and over towards one of the side buildings. The priest was silent for a moment before he asked Ranma "What progress have you made since your last visit young one?" The question was one that stirred up many emotions in the pigtailed teenager, he collected his thoughts on the subject and went over what he'd been doing with his _ki_ recently.

"Well I've noticed that the feedback loop is definitely present and I haven't been able separate that from everythin' else yet. My progress on changing my emotion based attack is going slowly though, I haven't been able to pick up another emotion yet that's as powerful or easy to access. I haven't been able to completely purify it yet either, but that's something I'm pretty sure is going to take months of heavy practice to get close to." Ranma took a breath and stopped talking, the old man always managed to draw a lot of him somehow.

The priests head had been nodding with each piece of information that Ranma had provided him and his mouth had crinkled into a small smile at the last statement. "If I were you I wouldn't worry too much, the fact that you have made notice of the feedback now means that you can dump the excess _ki_ from your system before it builds up and makes a permanent difference on your pathways. It is a shame that the young doctor that you mentioned is no longer present in our fine city. He would have been a great asset when it comes to evaluating your pathways."

A frown creased Ranma's forehead as he thought of the Doc' and how he had just up and disappeared all of a sudden. One would have almost thought he had been abducted but from what Ranma had been able to find out Tofu was still seeing some of his old patients but was just based out of a different ward now. He hadn't had a chance to find out where though yet what with everything that had been going on. Maybe it was time for that to change? The doctor would definitely have been a help in the aftermath of Jyusenkyo.

He nodded his head in agreement with the priest though before adding some verbal acknowledgement "Ya definitely right about that, I'm thinking I might have to dedicate some of my time before school starts up again to find him and ask him for some advice, this is getting difficult though, it's gettin' hard for me to hide my training and I'm pretty sure Cologne and Shampoo are gonna be back any time now from China."

Having completed their short stroll down the swept path to the building they used for their meetings the priest and Ranma both removed their shoes and bowed forward before stepping over the threshold. It had taken several visits from him before he had finally gotten all the practices down, much to the dismay of the priests who helped maintain the temple. Inside the building the floors were polished and clean and well maintained with simple paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls and small amount of offerings on the platforms as a Harai to the Kami who inhabited this particular building.

Stepping forward both of them bowed once again towards the Harai before they sat down opposite each other resting on their heels. Ranma watched as the old man closed his eyes briefly and drew in a deep slow breath before allowing it out slowly and opening his eyes which seemed somehow to him to have a hidden depth to them which only came out while they were here in this building. The old priests voice rang out with a command "Begin! Show me how close you are to combing the emotions and achieving the true purity of _ki_."

Ranma took a breath, cleared his mind and entered the void all in one motion, his years of practice making the transition almost instantaneous. Holding his hands in front of himself, palm facing palm, he began to draw on his _ki_ pulling it from his centre and directing it down his arms forcing it to coalesce into a ball between his palms. The ball started out as a mixture of golden and yellow light about the size of a softball and gradually begun to change colour as Ranma individually added each strand of _ki_ infused with a different positive emotion.

Finally though the ball hummed between his palms glowing a slightly pearlescent white with a very light pink tinge running through it. Sitting there within the void made this task easy, the real problem was doing this sort of thing instantaneously while in middle of a fight. As he sat there with his hands in a form of supplication towards the priest the old man reached out one hand and closed his eyes while he ran his hands through the air above the ball making sure to leave a gap between his hand and the _ki_ manifested in front of him.

The priest sighed slightly and his eyes crinkled a little bit more as the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly into a smile "You're getting closer each time we meet, it seems these sessions are helping you, you're not quite there though are you?" The question was rhetorical and Ranma knew it, even if he didn't actually know the meaning of the word he could at least appreciate the tone in which it was said. He answered the question anyway "I'm not tryin' to sound like a whiner or anything but it's difficult to express and emotion this way if you haven't had a lot of practice feeling it." The old man nodded at this and moved his hand away signifying he was done allowing Ranma to dissipate his _ki_ over the ground and building. The wood glowed slightly before going back to it's usually shine as it happily absorbed the small amount of life force.

"Even with those issues you have still made excellent progress, but I believe you stated that in the not too distant future you will be returning for your final year of high school and that will make a large impact on your manipulation training time. Have you thought of any solutions yet?" The old man slowly eased himself into the lotus position as he asked his question, Ranma noticed that while the priest seemed his usual spry self there was an air of fragility to him today that was not usually present. Assuming the lotus himself Ranma thought back over the possible excuses and reasons he could give for all the time he had spent away from the Tendo dojo and had to admit that he had nothing solid he could use yet "I haven't thought of anythin' concrete yet, I don't really want to wait for it but I'm hoping inspiration strikes me while I'm practicing."

Nodding in agreement the priest spoke in a voice that sounded even older than he looked "Even the wishes of an ant reach to heaven." Ranma just smiled a little and shook his head his enjoyment skittering along the outside of the void, "Again with the platitudes old man?" The priest held up his finger and shook it at Ranma admonishing him "I'll have you know that many of these so called platitudes have excellent messages to convey to those are able to hear them, mock me not boy for eventually you will prove me right in your own way." Even though he'd finished speaking Ranma still felt pinned by the old mans sharp glare, even though the humour in the priests eyes gave him away.

He fidgeted a bit in place "Well it's nice to know that someone believes in me, I think ya might be getting a little ahead of yourself though." The old man let loose a full blown grin at that and replied "We shall see, I have a sincere belief that you could do great things in this world Ranma Saotome," both of them stood up at the same time and bowed too each other before turning to the Harai to show their respect for the Kami that were supposed to inhabit the building. Ranma had seen some weird stuff but nothing had convinced him yet that the Kami existed, or that they were even on his side.

Both turned towards the exit and after placing their shoes back on headed down the path towards the Tori at the front of the temple. The sky overhead was a clear aching blue without even a puff of white cloud to break it up and the call of all the birds in the surrounding park seemed to blend into one either to form a giant melody of nature. Stopping for a moment he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, still holding the void and being at one with his surroundings and allowing his _ki_ senses to pool into the area around him.

He listened to the priest beside him as he intoned the usual prayer "Our eyes may see some uncleanliness, but let not our mind see things that are not clean. Our ears may hear some uncleanliness, but let not our mind hear things that are not clean." Opening his eyes Ranma released his _ki_ and stepped forward while pivoting on the one foot to face the old man, as one they bowed to each other, Ranma holding his bow slightly longer. As he raised his head he heard the old man say "The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form," as was the old mans way to leave something with him for him to think about, before he turned back towards the shrine.

Giving the old man a quirked eyebrow that he would be unable to see Ranma repeated the saying in his head a few times in order to remember it for further examination. The priest had provided him with Shinto teachings on other visits and they usually gave him some sort of lesson or parable. The old man had been smiling at him though as he finished talking, so maybe it wasn't as bad as he was thinking. With a shrug Ranma turned around himself and started the walk out of the park and back towards the tendo dojo. He had a student to teach after all and maybe, just maybe, he could have a little hope for getting out of this whole mess after all.


End file.
